When All Else Fades
by LastChancetoBreathe
Summary: After surviving an assassination attempt, Peter and Susan struggle to get back home. No slash or incest.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own The Chronicles of Narnia. If I did, then they would not be the classics they are today because I do not write nearly as well as C.S. Lewis. :)

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I urged my weary horse to fall in beside Peter's. I was tired of the quiet and Peter was always willing to lend an ear. Our guards closed the gap that I left behind, but I hardly noticed.

Peter looked as worn out as I felt. His blond head drooped towards his chest, though his blue continued to gaze ahead at the path we were traveling on.

"Makes you miss automatic transportation, doesn't it?" I remarked dryly.

He shot a startled glance at me. I guess he was more out of it than I first supposed. He grinned sheepishly at me. "Sorry, Su, but I think we're a long way away from automobiles. I don't much mind riding horses, but that might just be because my bum has gone decidedly numb."

I laughed. "How much farther do you think we have to go?"

"I'd say about a day, give or take. This is the last diplomatic mission that I'm going on for a long time. If foreign countries wish to trade or ally or whatever it is that countries do, they'll have to come to Narnia, because I'm, quite frankly, exhausted."

I shook my head. "I don't think that kind of attitude will serve Narnia very well."

"Can it serve her for a month so I can get some decent sleep?" He asked hopefully as he rolled his shoulders back in an attempt to get rid of the kinks in it.

I shrugged. "You're High King, you decide."

"Bother. I hate it when you use my title against me."

"But your title works just fine if you want your siblings to do something, right?" I cocked an eyebrow at him.

He just grinned.

Our horses slowed as we climbed up a steep incline. The land fell away from us on our left, plunging down into a steep ravine. To our right was a thick forest and between the two natural formations, our trial formed a crooked, narrow path.

The fauns guarding the front of our path merged together to fit on the path. They formed a line that was two fauns across and six fauns deep. Peter and I came behind them; followed by a bear, a leopard, and two centaurs.

We all quieted as we made our way through this narrow place, wary of enemies. But the trees to our right were quiet and nothing stirred on the cliff side to our left. Most of us had reached a place where the land began to level out and the trail broadened, when I heard a strange, squelching sound behind me.

I glanced back, just in time to see our two centaur guards fall to the ground, their throats cut by two hags that had landed on their backs.

I screamed. "Peter!"

But Peter and the guards were already alert and drawing weapons as minotaurs, were-wolves, hags, and dwarves descended on our party. I reached back to draw my bow out; but my horse stumbled, causing me to switch my hands back to the reins. To my dismay, I discovered four dwarves hacking away at my mount's legs.

I leapt off of my horse before they could do the same to me and drew out my long dagger, wishing that for once I had listened to Edmund's advice about learning how to use a sword. Because I wasn't prepared, I was virtually useless in close range battle.

My heart pounded as I stabbed one of the attacking dwarves before he could turn around. His companions quickly abandoned their work-although my horse was of no use to me now-to turn to me.

Dwarves are difficult to fight, especially without a long sword to keep them at bay. I clutched my dagger tightly. _Aslan, protect me!_

My prayers were answered as one of our faun guards leapt to my defense, plunging his sword into the back of one of the dwarves, and decapitating another one. I made short work of the last one, who's attention had wavered.

The moment of peace around me gave me time to un-sling my bow and ready an arrow. I turned to see what was going on around me. The carnage was horrible and our side was losing badly. Besides the deaths of our two centaurs, four of the fauns had been killed, as well as the leopard. Peter was still prevailing against his foes, but I knew if our guards died, we would soon follow.

One of the two remaining fauns screamed as a were-wolf leaped upon him.

_Pfft._ The arrow flew from my bow with deadly accuracy, striking the horrible man-wolf creature in the heart. Unfortunately, I didn't see the faun rise again. Panic began to take hold of my heart. I reached back with a trembling hand and pulled out another arrow. A hag was my next target and she fared no better than my last victim. Arrow after arrow I shot into the fray, but for every creature I killed, twice as many seemed to take its' place.

I glanced at Peter to assess his welfare. He was fending off attacks from two wolves and a minotaur and slowly being forced back to the cliff side. He slayed one of the wolves, but while his sword was still caught in the animal's fur, the minotaur reached over and grabbed him by the throat. Peter's face contorted as he was lifted off of the ground, his sword falling from his hand. The minotaur began to squeeze and my brother vainly tried to pull the hand away from his throat.

"Peter!" I came out of my shocked daze and sent an arrow into the back of his attacker's neck. The huge beast seemed to be little affected by the arrow and I shot another one into the same place. Still, he only stumbled.

Peter's struggles were rapidly becoming non-existent. His face took on a disturbing shade of blue.

"No!" We did not defeat the White Witch and restore Narnia for us to die in a little skirmish. I readied two arrows on my string, praying that this previously untried move would work.

I let them fly.

The minotaur let out a loud, terrible-sounding cry as my arrows pierced him. He finally released Peter, who fell to the ground coughing. His enemy teetered on the edge of the cliff, four arrows in his back, before he fell off of the ledge.

Peter looked back at me.

I smiled in relief.

He wasn't smiling back. His face twisted in an expression of fear that I had never seen on him before. "Susan, look out!"

Before I could turn around, I felt a sharp, burning pain in my side. It spread up my abdomen like fire, stealing my breath from me and taking away any cry I might have made.

I looked down, shocked to see a dagger protruding from my side. A greyish, furry hand clutched it. A long snout poked over my shoulder and a raspy voice sounded in my ear. "Long live the White Witch!"

And then he twisted his weapon.

Suddenly the voice I had lost came back to me as I screamed in pain that I have never experienced before. The dagger seemed to be ripping apart the inside of my body as blood poured out of my wound. My vision swam as the weapon was jerked out. My head rolled to the side.

I thought I heard someone calling my name, but all the noise around me faded away as a furry arm wrapped around my waist. I blinked dazedly at the form of my brother running towards me.

The arm around my waist tightened and I heard a hideous laugh. A moment later I was no longer being held captive, but hurtling through the air, heading right towards Peter.

Sheathing his sword, he stopped running, his arms held out to catch me. I hit him hard, pain sweeping through my side. He grunted and tightened his grip on me. He stumbled back a few paces, before letting out a surprised cry.

The last thing I remember was the sound of Peter's panicked gasps as we both tumbled off of the cliff.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for reading. Happy New Year and God bless you all!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

Hello everyone!

First of all, I just want to thank you for all of the lovely reviews, I really appreciate it. You guys rock. :)

Secondly, I am actually updating earlier than I planned because I am going out of town this week. I was originally planning on putting a new chapter up every week, but made an exception for this week. Also, my plan might change to every two weeks after school starts because I discovered I have quite a busy schedule in store for me.

Thirdly, I will be toggling back and forth between Susan and Peter's view-points, with one chapter being Susan's POV and the next chapter being Peter's POV and so on and so forth. So this one's a Peter POV chapter. :)

Anywho, here's the next chapter!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I couldn't breathe. Black spots dotted my vision as I tried vainly to free myself from the minotaur's grasp. Then, in an instant, the pressure was gone. My knees knocked against the ground as I gasped desperately for air. I could vaguely see my attacker waver and fall off the cliff, several arrows in his back.

I looked over to where my salvation must have come from and saw Susan standing there with her bow. Her face was dreadfully pale, but she still managed to coax a smile onto her face.

She was so caught up with making sure I was safe that she failed to notice the werewolf creeping up on her. I struggled to get to my feet, my hoarse voice crying, "Susan, look out!"

Her expression froze in surprise as a dagger plunged into her side.

_No!_ I scrambled for Rhindon, which was lying a few feet from where I had landed. All I could see was my sister's pained face as her attacker whispered something in her ear. My fingers closed around the hilt of my sword and I staggered to my feet just as Susan screamed.

The creature had twisted his dagger while it was in her side.

"Susan!"

The werewolf smiled maliciously at me as he jerked the weapon free. Susan slumped, her head rolling to the side as she blinked wearily at me.

I ran forward, hoping I wasn't too late. But the werewolf had other plans.

His hand tightened around Susan's waist a second before he threw her at me.

I sheathed my sword and held out my arms to catch her, but I wasn't prepared for the impact. Her limp body collided with mine and I tightened my arms around her as I stumbled back. A cry escaped me as I realized how close to the edge of the cliff I was. My feet hit open air and I barely had time to gasp before I was suddenly plunging down the cliff-side with my sister.

My back hit the rocks with bruising force and I nearly released Susan from the shock. I resolutely clung to her and tried to take the brunt of the fall, which wasn't hard considering that we were tumbling down at an alarming speed on my back. I tried to slow us down, my legs kicking to find purchase, but nothing seemed to work. My head collided with a particularly big rock and then, we were free-falling.

The wind whistled by us as my stomach clenched in fear. I felt a crushing pain against my back, my head slammed against something else, and then Susan's body landed on top of me, ripping away my consciousness.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I was in a meadow of some kind. The sun felt warm against my face. I breathed in deep, smiling as I recognized the faint scent of grass and flowers. It seemed to be so peaceful here, though I had no idea where _here_ was.

I turned slowly, taking in all of the scenery, trying to figure out where I was. And that's when I saw him.

He was lying down, but even so, he was huge. His golden mane gleamed and his warm eyes stared right at me.

I ran towards him. "Aslan!"

He chuckled as I tried to put my arms around his neck. My fingertips couldn't quite touch each other, but I didn't care. I buried my face in his mane, taking in his rich, unique scent.

"I've missed you," I murmured.

"I have never left you," he reminded me.

"I know...I just...I've missed _seeing_ you."

"I know." His deep voice resonated against my chest.

I breathed in deep one last time before pulling away and sitting back on my heels. "What are you doing here? And where _are_ we exactly?"

Aslan merely looked at me for a moment, his eyes almost...sad. "Peter, son of Adam, you are at the beginning of a perilous trial. If you try to weather it apart from me, you will fail. Lean on me, take your strength from me, and I will guide you through this storm."

I frowned in confusion. "What storm? What's going on?"

Aslan didn't answer. In fact, he seemed to be fading away. I reached out to him. "Aslan? Where are you going? Aslan?"

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"Aslan." I groaned as my eyes strained to open.

A thick, coppery fluid clung to the top of my mouth.

Blood.

I was bleeding?

As I started to become more aware, the pain suddenly hit me...and it nearly took my breath away. My head throbbed in tandem with the beats of my heart. My back felt like it had been through the meat grinder and a heavy weight pressed against my chest, making it difficult to breathe.

I finally managed to open my eyes, wincing as the light stung them and made my head hurt even worse. As my vision adjusted, I realized I was at the bottom of a ravine. The weight pressing down on me appeared to be a human that had long, dark hair.

It all came back to me. My near-strangulation, Susan rescuing me, Susan being stabbed, our tumble down the cliff...

"Susan!" I winced at the harsh, grating quality that my voice had taken on.

The body on top of me didn't move and I didn't think I would be able to move her. What if she was already dead?

I shook that thought from my mind. She couldn't be dead. It just wasn't possible. I took a few more moments to gather my strength and then slowly brought my arms up to lift Susan off of me.

The second my right hand gripped her shoulder, I nearly screamed in pain. I only just now realized that my wrist had taken on a strange angle. It was broken.

I let out a shuddering breath, feeling tears prick at the corners of my eyes. Were we going to die out here?

_Aslan, please help me_, I prayed right before I pushed against Susan's body with my left hand. It took nearly all of my strength, but she finally rolled off.

Once her weight was gone, I sucked in a deep breath and discovered yet another problem. My ribs didn't seem to be staying in their correct locations. As I let my breath out slowly, I noted the wheezing quality that my respiration had taken on. One or more of my ribs were broken and I would have to be extra careful when I moved to make sure that they wouldn't puncture my lungs. If my legs were broken, Susan and I were doomed.

_Susan_.

I remembered her stricken face when she got stabbed. I needed to bandage her quickly before she lost too much blood.

Gingerly, I tightened my stomach muscles and began to ease myself up. I braced myself from behind with my left arm as my ribs violently protested my motions. By the time I finally managed to sit up, black spots dotted my vision.

I breathed shallowly as I waited for my vision to clear. The dots faded away.

In cautious movements, I flexed both of my feet and then pointed them to test if either of my legs had any breaks. Though they ached with many scrapes and bruises that I had received during my fall, nothing seemed to be seriously injured.

I pulled them up to my chest and then edged them under my body until I was kneeling. I turned towards Susan now that I was in a more suitable position to care for her.

She was lying on the ground, face down. Even from this angle, I could see the dark blood coating her side. I swallowed hard, though the action hurt my abused throat.

I grabbed her shoulder with my good hand and pushed her over until she was laid out on her back.

Now that I could see her face, it was hard to control my emotions. Her skin was so incredibly pale that it looked like she was already dead. Her head rolled limply to the side, dark lashes brushing against snow-white cheeks.

I hesitantly put my fingers to her neck, praying for a sign of life. Nothing pulsed.

I refused to believed it; instead, I pushed my fingers a bit more forcefully into her neck. A second passed. Then another.

_Thump_....._thump_....._thump_....

I didn't realize I was holding my breath until it all left my lungs in an exhale of relief. She was alive.

Satisfied that I would not be treating a corpse, I whispered a prayer of thanks to Aslan and set about tending to her wound.

I was no doctor, but I could tell that the dagger had gone in deep. It didn't help that she wasn't wearing any armor. Plus that vicious creature had twisted the weapon.

I started ripping at the hem of my tunic with clumsy gestures, since I had only one useable arm. I tore off a decent-sized strip of cloth and bunched it up. Placing it over the wound, I pressed down.

Susan groaned.

I was so startled, I dropped my cloth. "Susan?"

She stilled again, but her eyelashes fluttered. It took a moment or two for them to open completely. Though her blue eyes were slightly clouded and dazed, I was never more relieved to see them.

She looked as confused as I must have when I woke up. Unfortunately, her body registered the pain much quicker than mine did. She moaned, trying to curl in on her side, but I put my hand on her shoulder to prevent her from doing so.

"Susan? Susan?" She wasn't paying attention to me. I shook her shoulder. "Su, listen to me."

Her eyes, brimming with tears, finally focused on me.

I smiled encouragingly. "I have to stop it from bleeding. I'm going to press down on the wound. I know it will hurt, but you have to let me do it, okay?"

She nodded.

I took up my cloth again and put against her side before steadily applying pressure. She arched up with scream, her fingers clawing at my hand.

"I'm sorry," I whispered brokenly.

A few minutes passed without a change in either of us, but eventually her strength gave out and she slumped back against the ground, panting. "Peter....that....hurt...."

A wry chuckle escaped me. "I know. I'm sorry. Can you keep pressure on this while I get another strip of cloth to tie it in place?"

She gave no verbal reply, but her fingers crept over the bandage. I let go and set about ripping off another piece of cloth from my tunic. I slipped my arms under her back, threading the strip around her body and then tying the wad of cloth in place after she moved her fingers out of the way.

Now that the most pressing issue was resolved, I wasn't sure what to do. Susan was looking to me for guidance and I was afraid that I would let her down.

I decided it would be best to check our surroundings, especially because there could still be enemies lurking nearby. Although, if they hadn't attacked us by now, I was fairly certain that they had left us for dead. Though this was good, I also came to the conclusion that if none of the Narnian guards had found us yet, then they were probably all dead.

I swallowed. There would be time for grief later.

I scanned the immediate area first. It was mostly rocky where we were sitting, but off in the distance I could see a forest. If we were going to try to get back to Narnia, we'd have to go through that. I already dreaded it.

A few paces to my left was the minotaur that Susan had slain. Above, the rocky cliff towered over us. I could detect no movement and the air was eerily still.

I looked back at Susan, who was watching me closely. "Do you think you can stand?"

She bit her lip. "I...I don't know."

"We can't stay here, Su. It's too open and if a wild animal or something worse comes along, we'll be virtually defenseless. I have Rhindon, but my sword-arm is broken. I'll only be able to fight haphazardly at best."

Her eyes drifted to my arm, the worry in them prominent. "Ok, I'll try."

"That a girl," I said as cheerfully as I could manage. "I'll get up first and then help you up."

I let out a hiss as I started to stand. My back flared up again with renewed pain. Whatever I had done to it, it must have been bad. I staggered upright, breathing hard. My head began to pound again. I clenched my teeth. "You know, Algebra is starting to look near-heavenly right about now."

Susan didn't laugh. She looked concerned. "Peter, are you alright?"

"As fine as one can be who decided to use their back as sled on a ride down a cliff."

"Maybe we should wait a bit."

I shook my head. "No, we have to get out of here. Just...give me a moment."

We lapsed into silence as I waited for the stinging pain to leave my back. When the ache had died down from agonizing to horridly uncomfortable, I extended my hand to my sister. "Ok. Don't push yourself. Get up only when you feel like it."

Her lips twisted in a smirk. "In that case, you might as well stand there until next week."

"You know what I meant."

"Alright." She sighed and started to ease herself up into a sitting position. Her face blanched. "Peter."

"It's ok, it's ok." I tried to soothe her.

She managed to sit up, but judging by the harsh gasps she was making, it had taken a lot out of her.

"Take your time."

She shot me an irritated look, but couldn't find the air to say anything back. Her face lost some of its' cadaver-like quality and returned to a healthier shade of ghostly. "Ok."

I grabbed her hand and, between the two of us, we managed to get her to her feet-though both of us nearly cried in pain. Susan looked about ready to faint.

I quickly wrapped my good arm around her, being careful to avoid touching her wounded side. She leaned heavily against me.

"Peter," she gasped, "I feel awful."

"I know. Aslan is with us though. He'll protect us." I rested my cheek against the top of her head. "We'll get through this, I promise."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

And there you have it! I know not a whole lot happened in this chapter, but I can't just have them get up and at 'em. :) Thanks for reading and have a loverly week!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

Hello everyone! Between jumping out of windows, getting sick, starting school and discovering I have nine papers to write, I managed to get this chapter done! :)

Thank you all so much for your lovely reviews! I really appreciate all of them and I am going to try to respond to each of you individually in private messages (if you have an account). However, if you don't have an account, I still very much appreciate your feedback. Thanks Britta! I'm glad you're enjoying this story.

So, without further ado, I give you the third chapter of _When All Else Fades_.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I have never moved so slowly in my entire life. Each step sent a thrill of pain through my side. The forest that Peter suggested we head towards seemed so far off. It was hard to imagine a time when I could move without pain, even though I had only been injured a few hours ago.

Beside me, Peter strained to keep moving as well. His forehead glistened with sweat as he tried to help me along. I knew he must be in pain. The right side of his face was clotted with blood from where he had hit his head earlier. The back of his tunic was shredded and stained darkly with blood.

I was hesitant at first to put my arm around his shoulders, but my hard-headed brother insisted he could handle it. But we'd barely made it halfway to the forest and already I was beginning to think that I could go no further.

Dizzy spells hit me every five minutes or so and I was so parched that my throat felt like sand paper. The full gravity of our situation hit me at that moment. We were a day or more away from Narnia, no one was expecting us to arrive until then, no one would send out any help because no one knew we were in trouble. We had no water or food and both of us were injured.

I stumbled to a halt, making Peter stop with me. I shook my head. "It's no use, Peter. We're going to die out here."

He looked at me in consternation. His lips pressed together in a thin line before his abused voice responded, "No we are not! Don't give up, Su. We just have to take it slowly. Trust me on this."

I felt like smacking him, but that would take even more of the energy that I didn't have. "We're miles from home with no supplies. We're half-dead and no one is looking for us! How can you say that we are going to make it?"

"Because Aslan said we would." His gentle but firm gaze immediately made me feel ashamed. He squeezed my shoulder. "Listen to me, Susan, if we don't depend on Aslan, we will fail. We have to trust him. He will not lead us astray."

"Then let's ask for his help right now," I suggested.

Peter smiled. "That's more like my sister."

We bowed our heads as he lead us in prayer. "Dear Aslan, we find ourselves in great need of your intervening power. We are weak and desperate, but we know you are strong and loving. Renew our strength, Great Lion. Give us the courage to persevere so that when we make it home, we may give you all the glory for your provision and guidance. Amen."

"Amen," I echoed.

Peter spoke as if we were already going to be saved. It was so like him-he had such unwavering faith in Aslan. I felt ashamed for ever doubting either of them. Though physically, I felt about the same; inwardly, my spirits revived and I was motivated to keep moving.

"Shall we go on?" Peter asked, his head tilted towards the forest.

I nodded.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The sun was setting by the time we made it into the forest, adding to the overall feeling of unease that permeated the air. We hadn't gone too far into the trees. It was as though we were afraid that if we let the open land get out of sight, we would never get out of the forest again.

We must have looked ridiculous. We clung to each other like scared children, gazing ahead into the dark trees.

"Do..." I swallowed and tried again, "Do we have to go further in tonight? Couldn't we wait until morning, when it's brighter?"

Peter was transfixed by the path awaiting us. Without even turning to look at me, he said, "It wouldn't make a difference. I have a feeling that this forest is always dark-whether the sun is up or not."

"Great," I murmured.

He glanced behind us. "I think we should go in just a little bit further. I don't want to be attacked by anything that might be tracking us."

My fingers tightened their hold around his shoulder. "You do realize that we could be attacked just as easily _inside_ the forest as we could _outside_."

"I know, but we're also closer to Narnia _inside _the forest." He smiled tiredly at me. "Come on, Su. Let's go."

"Alright."

We began to pick our way around the moss-covered logs and stones that stood in our path. It was not an easy task, for the ground was slippery and both of us were afraid that if we fell, we would not be able to get up again.

The palms of my hands grew clammy as we trudged further into the trees. The sunlight-or what could be seen of the sunlight-began to fade, making me even more nervous. The darker our surroundings got, the more the forest seemed to come to life. A crackle here, what sounded like a chuckle there, a hiss from the branches above, a rustle from the bushes below.

Peter tightened his grip around me and I glanced over to see how he was holding up. His eyes were wide and alert, pale face streaked with sweat. He was just as scared as I was.

Our movement couldn't really qualify as walking anymore. It was more of tiny, shuffling steps that we took every now and then. Between the pain and the fear, we weren't making much progress.

"Peter? Let's stop for now. I can't go much further."

He nodded. "I was just going to suggest that."

Neither of us moved.

The sounds of the forest grew louder around us.

"Do...do you think we should sit down?" He asked.

"Yeah."

We still didn't move.

I started to chuckle, though it sounded weird because I was trying not to hurt my side any more than I had.

Peter looked at me askance. "What?"

"We're acting like children who have just heard some frightening ghost story. Are we going to sit or not?"

He grinned. "I guess we should. That rock over there looks like a good resting place."

We started to edge over to the "rock" that he mentioned, which was really more of a moss-covered boulder. Twigs snapped under our feet and the chatter around us quieted for a moment, as if the trees were watching what we were doing.

Although, since we were far from our normal planet, they could very well be watching what we were doing.

That was not an encouraging thought.

Peter began to shift my weight around so he could lower me to the earth. I grabbed onto his good arm before painfully easing down.

My side flared with every movement and by the time I was finally sitting, I felt like crying. But it is a universal, unspoken family rule to never show weakness in front of your siblings-especially when they are older than you. Honestly, I had no idea why I cared-Peter had already seen me unconscious and vulnerable earlier-but I didn't want to show any further weakness.

My brother sat down beside me, a sound of discomfort escaping him when he leaned back against the boulder.

"Careful," I warned.

He rolled his eyes. "You know, I never quite understood why people say that _after_ you've already done what you should be careful about."

"I don't know. " I yawned. Now that I was sitting, I realized just how tired I was. It felt like I had run a marathon and then got shot for my efforts.

Peter patted my shoulder. "Why don't you get some rest?"

"What about you?" My eyelids were already sliding shut.

"I'll be fine."

I knew something was wrong with that statement, but at the moment it sounded like good reasoning to me. Besides, I was just going to close my eyes for a second.

Just for a second....

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"What strange-looking creatures are these things?"

"I don't know. Some kind of fauns with misshapen legs?"

"No, no. Their arms are too smooth for that and the male doesn't have a beard...at least, I _think_ that's a male."

"Aye, he's a pretty one, isn't he? Imagine! What kind of male keeps his face that smooth? The very thought of it sends shivers down my spine!"

I woke to the sound of this strange conversation. I kept my eyes closed because I didn't recognize the voices. My breathing quickened with the thought that Peter and I might be killed any second. I wondered why he didn't wake me. Was he dead?

Now I was _really_ breathing hard.

"Uh-oh!" The strange voices continued. "We've done something to it. Do you think it might pop?"

"I don't know. The last time I saw something that made this kind of noise, it up and flew away. Unfortunately, it popped when it got too high. I think it ate something it shouldn't have."

"Perhaps you should poke it, you know, to test it."

"I'm not touching it, _you_ touch it!"

"I ain't touching it, _you_ touch it!"

"Uh-uh, the last time I touched something at your prompting, I was dyed black for a week!"

"Well, the last time-"

I couldn't take it anymore. My eyes shot open and I jerked my head up, hoping I could at least catch a glimpse of what was going to kill me before I died.

"AAAH!" Two shrieks accompanied my abrupt awakening.

I quickly scanned the area, trying to find my enemy. I couldn't see anything though, just trees. To my left, Peter was curled up on the ground, asleep. Well, at least that answered the question of where he was.

I fumbled around for a stone, anything that I could use for a weapon. "Where are you? Show yourselves!"

"Oh Great She-Creature! We mean you no harm!" A voice answered my request.

"And we won't hurt your pretty male companion either-even though he has no beard!" A second voice joined the first.

"Where are you?" I still could detect no sign of whoever, or _whatever_, was talking to me.

"Oh Great She-Creature of the Long Hair, we are right here."

I felt a small tug on the hem of my dress. I dropped my gaze and finally spotted what had been speaking. I couldn't help the delighted, relieved smile that came over my face.

They were two little men, standing about six inches high. Their big black eyes stared curiously at me as they scratched at their reddish beards. Their clothes were green and looked to be made of leaves and each of them had on a little cap that seemed to be made of acorns. They were absolutely adorable and all I could think of was how much Lucy would have loved to adopt one of them.

"Did we do something wrong?" One of them asked the other. "Why is she staring at us?"

"I don't know." The other wrapped his arms around his head and crouched. "She's going to kill us!"

"No, no! I don't want to hurt you!" I spoke up. "I'm just...surprised. I've never seen anything like you before."

The one who was still standing cocked his head to the side. "With respect to your enormity, we've never seen anything like you before either. Pray tell, O Big One, what are you?"

These little creatures were starting to make me feel fat. I sighed, trying to think of how to explain to them what I was. I remembered Tumnus's description of us. "I'm a daughter of Eve. You know, a human?"

The two consulted with each other in whispers. Finally, they shrugged, and the one who had asked me said, "Never heard of your kind."

"Well, we're kind of new here. What kind of creatures are you?"

The second one scratched his head. "Creatures? What's this _creatures_ you speak of?"

Did they live under a rock? I mentally snorted at my question. Judging by their size, they probably _did_ live under a rock. I tried to rephrase my earlier question. "What are you?"

"Oh!" The first beamed. "We're sprites!"

"Sprites? You mean, like a faerie?"

They consulted with each other again, muttering back and forth. The first turned back to me. "I don't know about this faerie business, never heard of that before. We're just sprites. I'm Manis of Oaken."

"And I," the second one bowed with a flourish, "am Cristof of Oaken. Pleasure to meet you, Giant Lady. Do you have a name?"

"I'm Susan Pevensie of...of Narnia."

"Narnia?" Their ears perked up. "Where's that? Is this some new tree that can house great ones like you?"

"No, it's a country. A country that lies outside of these woods."

"Woods? What's _woods_?"

This was getting to be frustrating. I could feel a headache coming on and my side began to ache again. "It's hard to explain."

"Very well, we won't ask." Manis pointed to Peter. "But what is that?"

I had almost forgotten about my sibling. He was still fast asleep. I knew he must have been exhausted because he was usually a very light sleeper. "That is my brother, Peter Pevensie."

Cristof sniffed. "He's rather pretty...he must go through much ridicule. Tell him to grow a beard; it will help his reputation immensely."

I stifled a giggle as I tried to picture my brother with a beard. The action caused my side to flare up and I gasped in pain.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Both of the sprites jumped to alertness, drawing out two little sticks that looked like splinters to me.

"I...I'm injured." I managed to get out between my pants for air. "My brother and I were attacked and we're wounded. Please, can you help us?"

Manis and Cristof started talking to each other again. In addition to their many finger-points at myself and Peter, I could catch a few words of their conversation. "Pretty", "Giant", and "Great Ones" came up several times. Finally, they both turned to me with identical smiles on their faces.

Manis stepped forward with a little bow. "In light of your perilous predicament, Your Enormousness, we shall take you to Oaken and provide you with squigums."

I could only hope that _squigums_ were a good thing.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I had _way_ too much fun writing that last bit. :) I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_

Hello peoples! I'm back! :)

You guys are so cool...thanks for the reviews! Thanks Britta-I really appreciate the advice. I thought I might have strayed a bit into modern talk, but I wasn't sure. Thanks for putting me back on track, I will definitely watch out for that. :)

And here we go....

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"Peter."

I closed my eyes tighter, hoping that the person who was trying to wake me up would go away. I had no such luck though.

"Peter!" An insistent nudge on my shoulder caused a thrill of pain to run down my back.

My eyes flew open as I gasped.

Susan's apologetic face hovered over me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"That's fine." I grunted as I tried to adjust to the throbbing pain in my back. Then I remembered that I wasn't supposed to be asleep. I began to sit up. "I'm sorry, Su, I didn't mean to fall asleep....it just happened. Are you okay? Nothing attacked us, right? How is your side?"

She chuckled. "Calm down, Peter. We're fine. I want to introduce you to someone who is going to help us."

"Help us?" How in the world did she managed to get help in this ominous forest? I had gotten up into a sitting position by now and I quickly scanned over my sister to make sure that she was okay. She was still pale and one hand pressed against the makeshift bandage on her side, but other than that, she didn't look any worse off. I didn't see anyone else but her though. "Where are these helpers?"

"Right here." Susan waved her hand to her left.

I still didn't see anyone. The idea came to me that maybe she was delirious and only imagining that help had arrived. My tone must have conveyed what I was thinking, "Susan-"

Her gaze grew irritated. "Look down, Peter, I am not delusional."

My eyes shifted to the ground. Instantly, two little men who were at my sister's feet bowed to me.

"Greetings, O Hoo-man of the Pretty Face, I am Manis of Oaken," introduced one.

The other bobbed his head. "And I am Cristof of Oaken, O Pretty One."

Susan was chuckling.

I wasn't quite sure what to say in return. I settled for whispering in my sister's ear. "Why are they calling me pretty?"

Between giggles, she explained, "Because you don't have a beard. I believe they would find you much more masculine if you had a lot of hair."

I grunted. "Well I'm not going to grow a beard just for their sakes."

"I think they're waiting for you to properly introduce yourself."

Sure enough, both of the little men were staring at me expectantly. My voice still sounded gravelly and hoarse from my earlier strangulation. "Greetings, Manis and Cristof, I am Peter Pevensie of Narnia."

"Delighted to meet you!" Manis exclaimed. "We were just informing your sister that we would take you to Oaken and provide you both with squigums. If you would be so kind as to follow, we would be most appreciative."

I shot a quizzical look at Susan, hoping she could explain what _squigums_ were. She only shrugged. I addressed the little people again, "Very well. Give us a moment to get to our feet."

"Take as long as you like, O Deep-voiced One."

Excellent. Now I had another nickname. I decided to correct them before it went any further, "I don't usually sound like this, I was nearly strangled earlier and my voice is still recovering."

Both of them looked disappointed. Cristof was the first to speak though, "You might want to consider getting this _strangled_ done to you every day....it really would add to your appearance, O Beardless-One."

Susan started laughing as I blushed.

It was quickly becoming obvious that I was just not masculine enough for these people. I wasn't going to waste any more time trying to prove to them that I was every bit as manly as they were. So, instead, I tried to stand up.

Bad move.

I cried out when my back protested my sudden movements. Before I had even risen a few feet, I crashed back down to the ground, breathing harshly.

"Peter!" Susan edged over to me, wincing as her own wound gave her problems. Her fingers brushed my sweaty locks off of my forehead. "Are you alright?"

To be honest, I wanted to tell her to leave me here to rot. But that's not what any self-respecting older sibling says to the younger ones. I gasped. "Yes....just...give me....a moment."

I could hear Manis talking to Cristof. "Looks like they're in more need of squigums than we thought."

"Yes, we'll have to get Teala, I think."

After I caught my breath, I started to stand up much more slowly. It still hurt, but not nearly as badly as before. My vision was sprinkled with little black dots by the time I reached my full height, but after a few moments, they disappeared.

I turned to Susan and extended my good hand. She gulped, mentally preparing herself for the pain that her next actions would cause her. She grabbed on and I lifted her up. She leaned against me heavily, face pale.

When I was fairly certain that we could walk without collapsing, I nodded at the little men. "We're ready."

Cristof and Manis looked between us with concern, probably just now realizing how wounded we were. Manis finally turned and started pit-pattering away. "This way, O Great Giants."

Cristof joined him.

I smiled at Susan. "There is one good thing about being this much bigger than them."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"We won't have to walk very fast."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

My back and arm ached fiercely as we continued to trudge through the forest. Susan was panting beside me, her face scrunched up to keep from making any noise.

Cristof and Manis continued to walk ahead of us, every now and then shooting a glance behind them to see if we were still there. They whispered together now and a few seconds later, Cristof scampered off into the trees.

Manis stopped and turned to face us.

Susan and I gladly came to a halt.

"O Great Ones, we are here. Cristof has gone to inform the chief guards of our arrival. We have only a few more minutes to wait."

I took in our surroundings, wondering where all these little people-or "sprites" as Susan had informed me-were hiding. Nothing looked any different than what we had already passed through-just trees, moss, and stones.

"Peter," Susan panted, "I can't stand up too much longer."

"Ok, just hang on as long as you can. I'll try to find you a comfortable spot to rest as soon as Cristof returns."

No sooner had I spoken, then Cristof came jogging back with two official-looking sprites. I assumed they were the guards of this Oaken place.

They both examined us suspiciously and finally one of them announced in what, to them, was probably an intimidating voice, "Giants of this far-off land of Narnia, we have heard of your predicament and we believe that you mean us no harm. However, we cannot allow you to enter Oaken."

I felt like crying. Susan slumped against me, and even Manis looked rather dismayed.

Before any of us could say anything though, the guard raised his hand. "It is not because of anything that you have done, O Great Ones, it is merely because of your size. If we allowed you into our country, you would trample our homes. But, because you are injured and in need of care, we have decided to bring food and squigs to you if you solemnly swear not to harm us or bring destruction to Oaken."

_Thank you, Aslan_. The Great Lion had provided for us even when I began to doubt. I swallowed and tried to speak clearly through my abused vocal chords. "Valiant guards of Oaken, we will respect your wishes. We promise to not set foot in Oaken nor bring evil to your people. We thank you for your hospitality and for your care."

The guards seemed impressed that we were actually intelligent beings. The leader gave a short nod. "Very well then. If you will wait here, we will bring you what you need. Cristof, come with us. Manis, stay with the giants."

The three sprites disappeared into the trees again and Manis smiled up at me. "Pretty One, you have pretty words to match your face. You are a great diplomat."

I decided to take that as a compliment. "Thank you, Manis. Is it alright if we sit down? Neither of us can remain standing for very much longer, I'm afraid."

"Of course! Of course!" He backed up a few steps in order to insure that he would not be crushed when we sat.

I lowered Susan down carefully. She fell back against a large boulder, her lips turning a chalky white.

"Are you okay?"

She just nodded, her eyes squeezed shut.

I eased down beside her, feeling a bit nauseous and dizzy.

Manis hopped over to us. "Where are you injured, exactly? Teala, our Chief Squig, will need to know when she gets here."

Well, at least that answered one question. I guess a Squig was some sort of healer and squigums were merely plural for healing....or something like that. I pointed to Susan's side since she didn't appear to be up to talking yet. "Susan was stabbed and the dagger was twisted when it was in her body."

Manis flinched. "Goodness gracious! Why didn't you say so before? We wouldn't have made her walk so far if we had known that."

I shrugged tiredly.

He eyed me now. "And you, Pretty One? Where are you injured?"

I sighed. "Could you _please_ stop calling me pretty?"

"But you _are_."

"Please, just...don't. It's rather insulting."

Susan giggled.

Manis looked alarmed. "I did not mean to offend Your Immenseness! I apologize."

I nodded, accepting his apology. "I broke my right arm and slid down a cliff on my back. I think some of my ribs are broken too."

Manis cocked his head. "Ribs? Cliff? What are these things of which you speak?"

My head fell back against a nearby tree trunk with a _thunk_. This was going to be very hard to explain. I pointed to a tall tree not too far away. "You see that tree over there?"

He looked and nodded.

"Imagine falling down the trunk on your back and you'll have _some_ idea of what happened to me."

"Good heavens! Why on earth would you do a thing like that to yourself?"

This was getting to be almost comical. "I didn't do it to myself, I was thrown off along with my sister."

"Ah, bad business that. Yes, very bad business." Manis shook his head. "And ribs? What are they?"

Susan put her hand on my chest. "They are bones that lie under the surface of his skin. They are broken, which means that it is difficult for him to breathe and move, which means that he _should have told me_."

I winced and avoided looking at her.

"And don't forget that you were strangled," she added.

As if I _could_ forget that.

"You mentioned this _strangled_ earlier. What does this mean?" Manis stared at us eagerly. I think he was enjoying learning about us a little _too_ much.

Susan gestured to the sprite's throat. "It's when someone takes your neck into their hands and squeezes until you cannot breathe anymore."

The little man's hand flew to his throat as he gawked at me. "How dreadful! I take back what I said earlier, you most definitely _should not_ get strangled every day!"

"Thank you for pointing that out to me," I remarked dryly.

A crackling of twigs and roots announced the arrival of more than one sprite. Both Susan and I looked in the direction the sounds were coming from. A whole troop of sprites, led by Cristof, came marching into the area. Several of them were women and each of them carried tiny little baskets on their arms.

"Ah!" Manis clapped his hands together, delighted. "The squigs have arrived."

Excellent.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Once again, not much action, but I promise it will come. :) I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

Hello peoples! I hope you all are having a splendid week! Thank you all for your great reviews, you all are awesome. Thanks Britta!

Side note: Have you all heard Towards the End by Within Temptation? That has got to be one of the most beautiful and sad songs that I have ever heard. I've been listening to it all week and it helped me find inspiration for this story. *sniffs* You should listen to it on You tube or something.

Another Side Note: Need help getting up in the morning? Hire someone to give you a cramp in your calf! That'll snap you out of bed right quick, it hurts so good. :)

Anywho, here we go!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I gasped as my wound was uncovered fully for the first time since I had been stabbed. The makeshift bandage fell away into the capable hands of the sprites.

I made the mistake of looking down at the stab area. Instantly, nausea hit me as I saw the deep, ragged gash in my side.

The sprites who had taken off my bandage now examined the wound with clinical eyes. Several of them muttered amongst themselves, glancing uncertainly at me.

It made me very nervous.

Peter was watching all the proceedings with a keen gaze. Much to my irritation, he had refused treatment for his own injuries until mine had been taken care of. He, Manis, and Cristof stayed out of the way, leaning against a tree as the healers, or _squigs_, as they were called, fluttered around me.

"Miss Pevensie, was it?" Someone asked.

I glanced down to find a female sprite staring up at me. Her very presence exuded authority: sleeves rolled up, hair pulled back, jaw set in determination.

"Yes, that's my name," I responded.

She gave a sharp nod. "I'm Teala, the Chief Squig here. I must say, you've gotten yourself into a nasty little scrape. It will be difficult for me to fix you."

I didn't know what to say. _I'm sorry? It wasn't my fault?_

Manis cleared his throat. "Lady Teala, we would suggest that you use squigums-as it is our most potent remedy."

Teala gave him a stern look. "_I _will decide what to use. Squigums may be effective, but they're rare and _she_ could use up our whole supply, judging by her size."

I felt too tired to even defend myself. It didn't feel like a natural sleepiness was taking over me either. It was far too heavy-feeling, much heavier than any sleep I had felt before. I wondered vaguely if I was dying. It would be ironic to die in the midst of little people who were discussing the best method of how to save me.

My eyes began to drift close.

"Susan!....Susan!....Su-ah!" I heard someone scrambling over to me. It sounded like Peter. He had probably hurt himself when he moved.

Many protests rose amongst the squigs at his actions, but everything sounded far off to me.

I felt a hand touch my face and neck. Peter's voice spoke in my ear, soft and soothing, "Susan? Su, please open your eyes."

My eyelids felt too heavy. I didn't want to open them, but my brother sounded so worried. It took some effort, but with a few blinks, I managed to stare up into his face.

He smiled waveringly at me, his blue eyes brimming with tears. "Stay with me, Su. Don't give up now."

"Pe..." I couldn't even finish his name.

He took care not to jostle me as he addressed the squigs. "Please, she's dying. Whatever you have to help her, please use it."

I heard some faint murmurs and Teala's voice rising in irritation. There seemed to be some kind of argument going on, but I couldn't discern what it was.

Peter didn't participate in whatever debate was going on. His face lowered to mine, his cheek brushing against my forehead. Hot tears trickled down onto my skin as he cried, "Please, Aslan, please don't let her die."

Silence fell over the clearing, save for my brother's desperate sobs.

I wanted to comfort him, but I felt so weak. I didn't want to die like this, far from home, far from family, but it felt like I had no choice.

That is, until I heard Teala speak again. "What...what name was it that you said?"

Peter lifted his head. "Aslan, the Great Lion. He promised to help us."

A ripple of amazed cries rippled through the sprites. Teala's voice trembled as she spoke, "You mean, the Golden One has been with you?"

"Yes, he is always with me," Peter responded.

"Forgive us," I heard Teala say. "We did not realize you were in the service of the Golden One. We too are His humble servants and we shall do all we can to help you and your sister. Cristof! Go get the squigums!"

"Thank you." My brother sighed in relief as he held me close. "It will be alright, Susan. Aslan be praised."

That was the last thing I heard before I lost consciousness.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

It was quiet when I awoke. I opened my eyes, feeling well-rested. Sitting up slowly, I stretched. It was only when I had brought my hands back down from above my head that I realized that my side no longer hurt. My hand immediately went to my wound and I saw that it was not bandaged. That added to my puzzlement as to why I felt virtually no pain. There was still a hole in my dress where the dagger had gone in, but all I could see was a faint scar where the wound used to be. "What do you all do?!"

Manis, who I just now realized was sitting beside me, jumped up and clapped his hands together. "My Great Lady! You have awoken!"

"Yes...but....how....how?" I couldn't think of anything else to say to ask how it was possible that I hardly felt any pain.

Manis grinned. "I trust that you are feeling better?"

"Yes, I am...in fact, I feel like I haven't been injured at all. How is that possible?"

"Squigums!" Manis pumped his fist in the air. "I _knew_ they would work!"

There was that word again. I _had_ to figure out what this was, especially since it had now been used on me. "What is squigums? What does it do?"

"Um...they...I..." The little sprite glanced around the clearing, fiddling with his jacket. He spotted something that seemed to help him figure out how to explain squigums to me. He darted over to a tiny sprig that was lying on the ground beside me and extended it to me. "These are squigums....or rather, what's left of a squigum."

I took the small plant and studied it carefully, noting the bright orange berries that grew near the top. "Do you use the berries?"

"You mean the bright round things?" At my confirmation, he exclaimed, "Yes! We crush them and make a paste and put it over our most grievous wounds and then we are healed!"

"Where did you get this?" I was fairly certain that none of the healers in Narnia had anything like this.

Manis bowed his head in reverence. "The Golden One bestowed them on us a long time ago and we have continued to cultivate them. The Golden One told us that they were from a land far away, across something called a _sea_. He told us only to use squigums in time of great need and yours, Giant Lady, was a great need."

I smiled in amazement. Aslan had brought these little sprites a less-potent form of Lucy's cordial from across the sea? And I just happened to make it to this forest when I was injured? This was no coincidence. "Aslan be praised."

Manis bobbed his head. "Indeed, O Great One."

Now perhaps Peter and I had a greater chance of getting home.

Peter! I glanced around the clearing expectantly. "Where's Peter?"

"He didn't wish to wake you while our squigs took care of him, so he moved off over there." The sprite pointed off to the right of where we were sitting.

I rolled my eyes. Peter just didn't want me to see how bad off he really was. I stood up, brushing my skirt off. "Well, since I'm awake now, I would appreciate it if you would lead me to him."

"Of course." Manis started to walk off in the direction he had indicated, but then he paused. "Unfortunately, because of your size, Teala could only use squigums on you because they are rare. Your brother wasn't in as much danger as you were, so he is merely getting regular treatment."

Okay, so maybe we _wouldn't_ be able to make as much homeward progress as I thought, but we were still better off than before.

"Right this way." Manis gestured for me to follow him.

We stepped out further into the trees, making our way towards a light that I could see flickering dimly in front of us. As we drew nearer, I discovered the light was from a fire and I was able to distinguish voices.

"Ah!...._Ow!_....That _hurts!_"

"Hush now. Your sister handled this much better."

"She was...ah!....unconscious and she got....ngh!....squigums. I have....ow!....neither!"

"Now, now. Many a sprite would be ashamed if they complained this much while receiving care."

That shut Peter up.

I smiled in amusement as I crept closer to the small clearing where my brother lay. However, my amusement died the next minute when I saw just how badly he was wounded.

Peter had removed his tunic so that the squigs could treat him better. His back was a mess of shredded skin and blood. Many gashes were still leaking blood and pus and some looked like they had gone very deep.

Four or five squigs balanced carefully on the areas of skin that were not ripped and were pulling out what looked like tiny rocks that were embedded in my brother's back.

No wonder he was complaining.

He had his mouth pressed against the back of his good hand and he flinched every time another pebble was extracted. His broken arm was stretched out to the side, looking very swollen and bruised. How he had managed to walk with me leaning against him, I have no idea. He was so brave...almost to the point of lacking good sense.

I stepped over to him and knelt by his head without attracting his attention. Teala eyed me smugly as if I hadn't believed that the sprites could heal me.

I ignored her and brushed my hand across Peter's sweaty forehead. He winced, his eyes fluttering open. When he registered my presence, he gasped, "Susan! Are you...alright?"

"I'm fine, in fact....I'm basically all healed now."

"It's like....ah!....Lucy's cordial." He whimpered as Teala removed a particularly big rock from one of his wounds.

"I know." I continued to stroke his hair in an attempt to soothe him. He buried his mouth against the back of his hand again, trembling with the exertion of keeping quiet. It made my heart ache. "Why didn't you tell me?"

It took him a few moments to answer, but he finally managed to say, "It wouldn't have...made any....difference. You couldn't.....have done...anything."

I sighed. "When will you ever learn that you don't have to bear everything on your own?"

He didn't have a response for that.

Teala cleared her throat. "Well, I _believe_ that is all of the rocks that you managed to get in your back. I'm going to make a paste now and spread it over your wounds. You'll have to let it dry in order for it to work well. We'll do it again in the morning and then you can put your tunic back on."

"What about bandages?" I asked.

"Bandages? What are _bandages_?" Teala looked at me as if I had lost my mind.

I bit back my pride, even though it was very hard to not convince her that I was a pretty good healer in my own right. "Bandages are strips of cloth that you put over a wound to keep infection from setting in."

The Chief Squig snorted. "I'm surprised your kind manages to survive. I don't know where you got such an absurd idea, but we squigs never cover wounds. How on earth do you expect wounds to heal if you keep them covered?"

I had so many responses for that, I didn't even know where to begin. I really wanted to tell her that _she_ was the one who was ignorant-especially of how things worked outside of her little world-but Peter suddenly coughed. I looked down, wondering if I had somehow hurt him.

But he was just trying to get my attention. When my eyes landed on him, he mouthed, _Let it be_.

I huffed.

Teala and the other squigs had already started on the next phase of their process. Each of them took a basket that they had carried in earlier and brought it over to my brother's body. Something green and odd-smelling was pulled out. The squigs clambered onto Peter's back again and started smearing the paste into the wounds.

Peter hissed and pressed his mouth even harder against his hand. I dabbed at the sweat on his brow with the hem of my skirt.

I suddenly remembered his arm. Judging by the sprites' size and the effort it would take for them to set the arm into its' proper location, I realized that I would have to set it. Otherwise, Peter would probably end up with an arm that would be misshapen for the rest of his life. These sprites probably didn't even know what a broken arm was, and their most likely remedy would be to string it up to the nearest tree and hope that it would mend on its own.

I patted Peter's head. "I'll be right back."

He didn't respond, too caught up in trying to keep in his sounds of discomfort.

I stepped back a few paces so I would be out of the way of the squigs and then sat down with my legs out in front of me. I took the edge of my skirt in my hand and began to rip off some long, wide strips of cloth.

Teala watched me with narrowed eyes. "What are you doing?"

I tried to tread carefully because this little sprite seemed to be basking in the glory of her own accomplishments. "Lady Teala, I respect your skills as a squig, but Peter's arm is broken and there's no way that you can set it properly. I'm going to bind it as best as I can."

She looked like she was on the verge of protesting, but when she took in the size of Peter's arm, she gave a reluctant nod. "Fine, but don't get in my way."

Pleasant, wasn't she?

I kept my thoughts to myself and edged around Peter's body until I reached his injured arm.

He still had his eyes closed as he breathed harshly out of his nose.

"Peter?"

He cracked open an eye.

"I'm going to set your arm now."

He gave a short nod, letting out another hiss as Teala packed some of her paste into a deep wound of his.

I gingerly grasped his arm and gently felt the bone with my fingers. The arm seemed to be fine by itself, but the elbow was definitely dislocated. I sighed. Edmund was much better at doing this than I was. I rotated the arm into position.*

Peter groaned.

Biting my lip, I steeled my nerve and jerked the arm back into its' proper location.

A muffled cry escaped my brother. He bit his hand this time, shuddering in pain.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as I began to bind his arm in my skirt strips.

Teala and her team of squigs were climbing down from his back now. The Chief Squig came over to me, her hands on her hips. "We'll be back in the morning to reapply the paste. There's some baskets over there with berries and other food items as well as two tubs of water. We're going to bed now."

"Thank you," I responded. "We couldn't have lasted long without your help."

"You're absolutely right on that account." She strutted off into the trees with confident steps, her squigs following behind her timidly.

I sighed and turned my attention back to binding Peter's arm.

"I'm sorry about Teala; she's always like that."

I had almost forgotten that Manis was with me. I smiled at him. "That's okay."

Peter opened his tired eyes. "Su? Can I have some water?"

"Of course!" I set down his arm, which I had finished wrapping, and looked around for the tub of water. Two small, grey bowls met my wandering eyes. They were no bigger than cups but to the sprites, they must have been large.

I took one of them and brought it to Peter, lifting his head so he could drink. When he had drunk as much as he could, he lay down, exhausted.

I set the bowl to the side and stroked his hair.

Manis continued to watch us curiously as Peter struggled to ignore the pain.

Sympathy for my brother overwhelmed my heart and an old lullaby that my mother used to sing came into my mind. Hoping it would help Peter, I began to sing,

_"Hush, my dear, and lay you down_

_The sun has gone, the moon is come_

_Rest well, for the day is done now_

_Sleep has come for you, my son._

_"Dream well, my dear, forget your fears_

_I will hold you, safe from harm_

_No more worries, no more tears_

_Just sweet respite, that gentle charm._

_"When you wake, I'll still be here_

_And I'll help you on your way_

_With a smile, I'll be near_

_As you rise to greet the day."_

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Ok, so I'm not the best at spur of the moment nursery rhymes, but that's all I could think of.

*I realize that a dislocated elbow seems strange, but it does occur. I have a friend who has broken probably every bone in his body at one point or another, so he managed to do this once. :)

Thank you for reading! :)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

Annnnnddddd, I'm back!!! :) I thought I wasn't going to be able to get this chapter out today because I hadn't finished writing it; but I was hit with a jolt of inspiration this morning and I managed to get it done. Yay!

Thank you for the great reviews!

And without further ado, I give you chapter six of _When All Else Fades_.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I did not have a pleasant awakening the next morning.

My peaceful dreams were interrupted by a sharp sting on my back. My eyes shot open as I growled in irritation, "Hang it all! Who's waking me at this ungodly hour of the morning?!"

"Oh hush, it's not that early," Teala responded.

That figured.

I don't know what I had done to the little sprite, but she seemed to have some kind of grudge against me. Another sharp pain rippled down my back and I craned my neck to try to see what the Chief Squig was doing to me.

She and her little helpers were already slathering their green goop on me. I groaned and plunked my head back down on my arm. "Couldn't you at least have woken me up first?"

Teala grunted. "No, the Majesties were just told last night of your arrival and they don't much care for strangers dwelling close to their kingdom. They've agreed to let you stay for a few more hours, but after that, you must leave."

Charming. I didn't see how this answered my question, but I didn't wish to incur Teala's wrath, so I kept quiet. On the other hand, these rulers of theirs must have some cheek to order away needy people without even meeting them.

"I'm terribly sorry about all this." Cristof appeared in my line of vision, wringing his hands uncomfortably. "I tried to plead your cause, but the Majesties have more important matters to attend to. You see, you've caught us at a time of crisis. Too many leaves have fallen from the trees and we must find a way to remove them before they destroy our homes."

How I would love to have a leaf crisis instead of the current predicament I was in. However, it would be rude to voice my thoughts to the creatures who had taken such good care of me and my sister. That reminded me, "Where is Susan?"

Cristof turned and pointed straight ahead. "She's over there, still sleeping. Shall I wake her?"

I followed his finger until my eyes landed on my sister's slumbering form. She was curled up on her side, one arm tucked beneath her head, mouth open in a soft snore. The relief that overtook me when I saw how healthy she was made me want to weep for joy. _Thank you, Aslan_. I answered Cristof's question, "No, let her sleep a bit longer. I'll wake her when the squigs are done with me."

I settled myself down comfortably with my chin resting on my good hand. Though my other arm ached considerably, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been.

As I thought of the journey ahead of me and Susan, I found myself wanting to beg the sprites' king and queen for a few more days of reprieve. But I knew that I couldn't do that. Not only would the sprites more than likely turn us away, but Edmund and Lucy were probably beginning to wonder where we were. No, it was for the best that we left today. The sooner we got home, the sooner we could find out what creatures had done this, and the sooner we could make Narnia a safer place.

"Good morning, O Pret-....I mean, uh, O Great One." Manis popped up beside Cristof, smiling nervously at his blunder.

I let it go and grinned at him. "Good morning, Manis."

He bobbed his head. "I trust you slept well?"

"Yes, until I had to wake up." I shot a dark look at Teala.

In retaliation, she ground some paste into one of my deeper lacerations.

I hissed.

"Lady Teala!" Cristof squeaked, aghast. "You should not treat a guest in such a manner!"

"He's no guest of mine," she sniffed.

Manis moved as though to give the squig a good shake, but I shook my head. "It's alright. I understand her frustration. I'm sure she wasn't planning on patching up two giants."

Manis pressed his lips together mutinously, but stepped down. "She should still treat you with more courtesy."

I had more important matters to discuss at the moment then the conduct of their Chief Squig. "Manis, Cristof, I was wondering if you could help me out?"

"Help you out of what?" The two sprites exchanged puzzled glances.

I sighed. "It's just another way of asking for help."

"Ah! Well then, of course we'd be glad to help you!" Manis responded.

"Thank you." I began by asking, "How well do you know these woods? Is there anything that Susan and I should watch out for? What kind of plants can be eaten?"

"There you go with this _woods_ again." Manis frowned. "If you're talking about all these lovely trees, just say so. As for what can be eaten, there are plenty of delicious poppers that grow around these parts-just don't eat the purple ones, they're poisonous....and they don't taste very good anyway."

"Poppers?" I quirked my eyebrow at the strange word.

"Yes...uh....I believe your sister called them something else yesterday....um...what was the word?....Oh! Berries! That's what she said!"

"Ah, so they grow fairly abundantly around here?"

Cristof chimed in, "Yes. Most grow low to the ground though, so you might want to bend down to pick some."

"Alright. What about water? Is there any nearby?"

Manis pointed behind himself. "There is running water quite a ways that way. It takes us at least half a day to get there, but with your giant strides, I'm sure you can get there rather quickly."

At this, Cristof began jumping up and down excitedly. He whispered something in his friend's ear, who gave a nod, and then darted off into the trees.

I frowned. "Where is he going?"

"Oh, you will see." Manis rocked back and forth with a mysterious expression on his face.

Since I figured that it would take Cristof some time to get whatever he was after, I asked the next question that came to mind, "Are there any enemies or creatures that might attack us while we are walking?"

Manis's expression fell. "Yes, unfortunately. There are some nasty gremlins that lurk near the water. You're a great deal bigger than them, but they can still be vicious. They have sharp, pointed teeth and dull amber eyes and their skin blends in with the ground so they are hard to detect. They're not very intelligent; we've tried making peace with them, but they will have none of it."

Gremlins, eh? The name seemed vaguely familiar to me, as if I had read it in some fairytale. "We'll be careful. Thank you for the information."

"Of course." The sprite bobbed its' head. His gaze shifted behind me and a smile spread across his features. "Why, I do believe Cristof is returning. Excuse me for a moment, Your Immenseness, while I go assist him."

He darted out of my line of sight and, since Teala and her squigs were still patching me up, I had no choice but to wait and see what they were bringing to me.

A few minutes later, several sprites carrying two large, leafy bundles marched in front of me. With great care, they lowered their burdens to the ground. Cristof stepped forward, swept his hat off of his head, and bowed. "In light of the journey ahead of you and the perils that await you, we present to you this token of our friendship."

He stepped back again with the other sprites, beaming with pride.

I reached out and took one of the leafy bundles. It was oddly shaped, made out of leaves that were covered with some kind of hardened wax. It was almost like a little bag, with a string around the top that held it closed. When at last I gave up trying to figure out what it was, I addressed my little friend, "I am deeply touched by your care for me, but I am afraid I must admit that I am quite puzzled as to what your gift is."

Manis jumped in. "It is a carrier for water. We figured that you might have a long journey ahead of you, so we made giant carriers like the ones we have for water. You need not worry about leaks either. The leaves are sealed with huycath sap, which prevents cracks from appearing."

My affection for these little creatures grew with every act of kindness that they performed for me and my sister. I was beginning to learn that, in Narnia, often the smallest creatures had the biggest hearts. "My dear sprites, your care and concern for me touches my heart. I am exceedingly grateful for all that you have done for me and Susan, and this gift is so much more than I was expecting. Thank you ever so much."

Manis and Cristof beamed.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The time for our departure arrived. Susan had awoken shortly after the sprites had given me the water skins. After having a small, but delicious breakfast of berries and flat, bland bread of some kind, we prepared to head out.

I slipped my ripped tunic gingerly over my head. Though my wounds still stung, I could tell that the medicine that the squigs had used had done quite a bit in setting me on the path to healing. Finally, I buckled on my sword, shifting it to my right hip so I could grab it with my left hand if necessary.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. Susan smiled reprovingly at me, holding a long, wide cloth in her hand. "You need to put your arm in a sling."

I sighed. I had been hoping that she wouldn't notice. I thought bandages alone were just fine; slings are bothersome and they pull on your neck. But, there was nothing for it but to wear one when Susan was determined.

I put on the sling with her help and nestled my arm in it. "Satisfied?"

"Yes. I think we have everything now."

We both turned our gazes to Manis and Cristof, who were the only sprites who wished to stay around to see us off. Susan bent down and very carefully picked up one in each hand. Then, gently, she laid a kiss upon the first one's head, then the other's, before she set them back down.

To my amusement, they both turned a startling shade of red.

"Thank you, my valiant sprites. You saved my life," she said.

"Well, uh...your Ladyship...we, uh....it was...our pleasure," stuttered Manis. "I m-mean, not our pleasure that you were wounded....j-just....um...we...."

"We were glad to be of assistance," Cristof finished, having recovered from my sister's kiss much faster than his companion.

"You have our heartfelt gratitude. Perhaps sometime in the future we shall meet again and we will be able to repay your kindness." I bowed to them as they had so often done to me.

They both looked flustered and embarrassed, unsure of what to say or do.

I solved the problem for them by stepping away. Susan followed. "Farewell, my friends."

"Farewell!" They called. "Have a safe journey, O Great and Noble Ones!"

I chuckled and headed deeper into the trees, being careful not to accidently step on a hidden sprite on my way out. "I think you left them with a good impression, Su."

She laughed. "The poor little dears! I didn't mean to embarrass them!"

"I'm sure they didn't mind." I winked mischievously at her.

She punched my uninjured shoulder good-naturedly. "Shut up."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

We had been walking for about two hours when I first heard the faint sounds of running water. I cocked my head. "Do you hear that?"

Susan nodded. "That must be the water the sprites told us about. I hope it's larger than a sprite-sized stream."

I snorted and continued onward in the direction I could hear the noise coming from. As we got closer, I kept a wary eye on my surroundings. But nothing seemed to stir other than little squirrels and birds and bugs.

Susan suddenly exclaimed, "Oh praise be to Aslan! It's a brook!"

She rushed forward and I followed after, startled at her behavior.

The trees gave way to a bubbling brook that splashed through the trees, running horizontal across the path that we were on. My sister was already down by its' banks, scooping up a handful of water. She brought it to her mouth and drank deeply.

Her eyes widened in delight and she turned to me, her lips red from the cold drink. "Peter, it's fresh! It's good! Come here!"

I shook my head in disbelief. "I don't understand what you are so excited about. We had water when we were with the sprites."

"Yes, in small bowls that were hardly enough to quench my thirst," she bit back sarcastically. "Now we can drink more than a handful!"

She dunked her hands in again and scooped up another mouthful.

I could only watch my prim sister in dumbfounded amazement for a moment before my own thirst got the better of me. I knelt down beside her and tried to get some water in my one good hand. I got a small sip, but not nearly what I was hoping for.

I grabbed one of the pouches Manis and Cristof had given me and filled it about halfway, before greedily pouring the water down my throat. It tasted so good-cool and crisp. No wonder Susan had been so pleased. A few bagfuls later and I sat back on my heels, content. "Thank you, Aslan."

Susan was eyeing me smugly.

"What?" I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"I _told_ you it was good."

"Alright, alright! I didn't disagree with you; I was just shocked to see you act like that."

Her cheeks took on a faint pink hue. "I suppose it _was_ rather rash of me." Then her eyes grew wide. "You won't tell Edmund and Lucy, will you?"

I laughed. "Only if you promise not to tell them that the sprites think I'm pretty."

She extended her hand and I shook it. "Deal."

"Here," I tossed her the other water pouch and we filled them both for our journey.

It was only after I had attached the bag to my belt that I realized we were completely surrounded by gremlins.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

*clears throat nervously* Um, right. I think I'll just....go into hiding for the next week. *bolts for the door as the readers yell at her angrily*


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a splendiferous week! You guys are so amazing.

Britta: Thanks for not wanting to hurt me, I know it was evil of me to put a cliffhanger in there. Gremlins are evil little creatures with sharp teeth and yellow eyes-at least, in my story they are. Hopefully this chapter will better describe them. :)

Also, special thanks to captive1princess for encouraging me during the week, I appreciate it and I am feeling much better. :)

And here we go!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I wound my cord tightly around the lip of my water skin and cinched it tight. After I looped it onto my belt, I turned to make some kind of inane comment to Peter. But whatever I had wanted to say fled from my mind when I saw his face.

He was immobile, lips white, staring at something ahead of him. I could see his left hand inching towards the hilt of his sword.

"What is it, Peter?" I breathed, wishing I had my bow with me.

"Be very, _very_ still and quiet," He whispered, his lips barely moving. "We're surrounded by gremlins."

My heart started pounding at his warning, but my brow furrowed at the new term. I whispered back, "What are gremlins?"

"Small creatures that dwell near the water. Manis cautioned me against them." His fingers closed around the hilt of Rhindon.

"And you forgot to tell me this, why?" I began to dig into the bank at the edge of the water for some smooth stones I could throw.

"It slipped my mind. The one closest to you is about right at nine o'clock, go for that one first. Hit as many as you can and then run across the brook. I'll try to follow."

"If you think I'm going to leave you behind, you're sorely mistaken. Out of the two of us, I'm the one in better health and I can help you." I had secured a palm-sized stone in each hand by this time.

"Fine," Peter grunted. "On the count of three....one....two....three!"

He jerked his sword out at the same time that I whirled around and pitched a stone at the nearest gremlin. The ugly, yellow-eyed creature squealed in pain and tumbled backwards.

I heard another scream from where a gremlin must have been stabbed by Peter and then the formerly quiet forest became ablaze with snarling, angry gremlins moving in for the kill.

I kicked one in the chest as it sprung for me, claws outstretched. As it fell away, I scrabbled around for more stones, throwing them almost as soon as I acquired them.

The vicious creatures were everywhere-jumping from tree branches, crawling out of bushes, scrambling near our feet.

I felt the sting from many of their claws-none of the gashes were deep enough to cause any permanent damage though. However, I knew if I let up my defense of myself even for a moment, the gremlins would quickly overwhelm me.

I shook off a creature that had sunk its' teeth into my shoulder and batted away another one that had attached itself to my skirt. As I stomped on one that got too close to my feet, I hollered, "There are too many! We have to run, Peter!"

Peter muttered something that sounded vaguely like _"No kidding"_ , before he cried out in pain.

I did a spinning kick around myself that gave me just enough time to spot a gremlin who was clinging to my brother's back. I chucked a stone at it and it fell away.

"Get away, you nasty creatures!" I stomped my feet vigorously, frustrated at the never-ending stream of small enemies. "Peter!"

"I'm _trying_ to get away! Try getting into the brook!" He called back as he neatly sliced a gremlin in half.

I backed up to the brook, dragging along some of the foul beasts that were clinging to me. As soon as my feet touched the water, the gremlins hissed and leapt off of me. Funny, for creatures who dwelt near the water, they didn't seem to care for it overmuch.

I didn't spend much more time on the matter though; I was just grateful that they _were_ afraid. My gaze snapped to my brother, who was struggling to keep his attackers off of him. His sword moved about clumsily-he was still working on how to use a weapon with his left hand-and I knew he wouldn't last much longer.

Panic set in.

Screaming non-related, almost incoherent phrases, I started splashing around in the brook. I cupped my hands together and scooped up handful after handful of the liquid, dousing the gremlins in it. My feet kicked out as well in a flurry of movement that nearly made me lose my balance.

The gremlins on the shore hissed and left almost immediately, disgruntled at the loss of what they had thought was easy prey. But the creatures surrounding Peter were not willing to give up their victim so quickly. They clung to his boots, his leggings, his tunic-all of them trying to find a good feeding ground.

Peter continued to swipe at them, but they easily ducked his ill-aimed slashes.

"Let go of him! _Let go_! We didn't come this far to be killed by sniveling little _gremlins_!" I cried as I splashed more and more water on them, getting both the creatures and Peter soaking wet. "Peter, get over here!"

"I'm trying!" He spluttered as he staggered towards the brook. A few of the less-persistent beasts released their victim and scurried away, but a handful of brave ones continued to pull on Peter's boots. They had discovered that if they stayed lower on the ground, they were less likely to get wet; so, they pulled on my brother's feet as he tried to move to the brook.

I reached out and snagged the back of his tunic and tried to bring him into the water. For a few moments, it was almost like playing tug-of-war, but eventually the gremlins gave up.

With a huge splash, Peter and I both tumbled back into the water. It pooled over our laps, not quite reaching to our waists, but enough to make us waterlogged.

The persistent gremlins stared at us for a moment in discontent. Then finally, one by one, they slunk back into the darkness from whence they had emerged.

For a few seconds, Peter and I just sat there, shivering and gasping. Then Peter began to laugh.

I brushed a couple of tangled, wet strands of hair away from my face and glared at him. "Just what is so funny? I find nothing humorous in the fact that we were nearly killed by brutes five times smaller than us."

He grinned. "You never cease to astound me, Su. I've always thought you so prim and proper, but I guess that was before I saw you in a life or death situation."

"Well, one does what one must, right?" I stood up slowly, wincing when my bruised bottom reminded me that it had just landed on the stony floor of a brook. "You really need to learn how to fight left-handed."

"I know." He stood up gingerly, shaking water from his head like a dog. He sheathed Rhindon almost reverently, before straightening his sling which had gotten knocked out of its' position during the fight.

Worry took over me and I edged around him to examine his back. A few new tears had joined the previous ones, but aside from a couple of scratches, he was no worse off than before.

"What's your prognosis, doctor?" Peter queried.

I narrowed my eyes at his sarcasm. "I think you'll live if you avoid teasing the doctor."

"I shall strive to resist the temptation to do so," He responded as he turned to gaze at our surroundings. "I have a feeling that there are more gremlins across the brook. I think our best bet will be to run through this part of the forest. After all, there weren't any gremlins near the sprites. Perhaps we just have to get far enough away from the water."

"Alright," I agreed as I tried in vain to straighten my hair. "One problem."

"What?"

"My dress, aside from being hopelessly ruined, has gotten decidedly wet and heavy. It's very hard to run in a wet dress."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Just wring it out as best as you can and hitch it up past your knees."

The very idea scandalized me. "Peter! I can't do that! It's not proper!"

He didn't respond for several moments. He looked like he was vacillating between wanting to strangle me or wanting to burst out into laughter. Lips twitching, he replied, "Susan, in case you don't remember, you wore knee-length skirts all the time in England and you had no problem with it. You've been taking your etiquette lessons with Lady Gordaza a little _too_ seriously. I think you can forgo propriety for one moment."

I blushed when I realized just how foolish I was being. "I'm sorry, Peter. I've just been reprimanded so many times for showing my ankle that I suppose it's become second nature to me to keep my legs covered."

"I have no objection to that philosophy when suitors come to visit, but for now, I think we can ease up on the rules a bit." He smirked as he began to squeeze water out of the edges of his tunic.

I couldn't think of a good retort-he was always so much better at witty remarks than I was-so I picked up my skirt instead and wrung it out. My dress had a small belt, more for decoration purposes than anything else, and I carefully tucked the hem of my skirt into it. By the time I was finished, my skirt fell just above my knees, displaying my traveling boots to the world. I hadn't seen my kneecaps for weeks and I felt distinctly uncomfortable letting them breath the free air again.

I didn't realize I was staring at them until Peter laughed, "They're called _knees_, Su, and I promise they won't hurt you."

I scowled at him. "Are you ready?"

"Almost," he replied, his eyes still sparkling with amusement. "However, I did want to make sure that you still had a full waterskin. It would do us very little good to get away from all these gremlins and have only one sack of water between us."

I checked my belt and felt the waterskin to see how much liquid was in it. A relieved smile crept over my face. "It's still full. Those sprites made these pouches very well."

"It's a good thing too." Peter crept towards the shore that we had not yet walked on.

I followed him and we both paused to gather our bearings. The woods echoed with faint hisses and every now and then, I thought I saw yellow eyes gleaming between the branches. The path ahead of us, if it could be called a path at all, was littered with branches and shrubs and other things that could easily trip us up.

Peter pointed straight ahead. "We're just going to run forward for as long as we can. Hopefully we'll reach the end of these woods. Su," he switched his gaze back to me, his voice becoming serious, "if I fall, don't come back for me, keep running."

"Don't be a hero, Peter." Sometimes it was almost irritating how chivalric he had become. "Do you honestly think I'm just going to let the High King of Narnia be chewed to bits by gremlins? You're not the only royal here and as second ruler of Narnia, I hereby refuse to acquiesce to your command."

"Susan," he started, sounding frustrated.

I turned my eyes to the forest ahead of me, jaw set in determination. "Last one out is a rotten egg. On your mark...."

"Su."

"Get set." I bent forward.

"Susan."

"Go!" And I leapt out of the water and into the forest.

"_Susan_!" Peter shouted in exasperation, but I could hear him clambering after me.

Hisses and wild screams erupted around us and several times I felt a clawed hand or a sharp tooth prick me, but we continued on doggedly. The ground was much harder to run on than I was anticipating. Mud sucked at our boots, making it difficult to move. Branches pulled at our clothing and hair, mossy leaves slapped at our faces, shrubs stretched across our path, forcing us to jump over them. But we didn't dare stop.

Peter caught up with me at some point during our desperate sprint. He was having a much harder time than I, due to his injuries, but he managed to keep up admirably. He probably didn't want me to tell Edmund that I had beaten him in a race. Both of them had an insatiable urge to compete that I just didn't understand. But every now and then, it came in handy-usually when Lucy and I wanted them to do something. And now, it was helping Peter to get out of danger.

Gradually, the squeals of the gremlins fell away and soon all we heard was our own frantic breathing. However, neither of us were willing to stop running as of yet, for the trees appeared to be thinning out-a sure sign that the end of the forest was soon to be at hand.

My pace quickened as I saw daylight for the first time since we had entered the forest two days before. True, we had not been in the woods for a very long time, but it was long enough to make me yearn for the open air again.

The ground slowly became smoother and easier to tread, with fewer obstacles to trip over. Soon, there were only a few trees and bushes and then-I suddenly found myself out on a gently sloping plain.

The sky was overcast but even so, the day was bright. Soft rain drops landed on my up-turned face as I gazed at the clouds. The fresh air was invigorating after the close, musty smell of the forest.

I dropped my gaze to inspect the rest of the land. It was largely made of grassy plains dotted with wildflowers and here and there, a boulder would spring up. It stretched out as far as I could see, but I felt elated that the next part of our journey would be made in such a beautiful place.

A few twigs snapped behind me and as I turned, I caught sight of Peter emerging from the forest. His face was pale and sweaty, but his smile, broad and white, clearly displayed that he was not in the least bothered by his injuries.

He stretched out his good hand as if to catch the raindrops on it. As a few wet drops hit his hand, he let out a delighted laugh. "Thank you, Aslan!"

I sucked in another deep breath, mentally sending my own thanks to the Great Lion. Without his provision, I would not have lived to breathe this air again.

Another thought hit me at that moment and I turned to Peter with a mischievous smile.

He shifted. "What?"

"You, sir, are a rotten egg!"

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Yay! No cliffy and the chapter's on time too! So that means you won't be sending angry dwarves at me, right? :) Thank you for reading and happy early Valentine's Day to you all!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own The _Chronicles of Narnia_.

Hello everyone! First off, I want to apologize for this being a day late. It's been a crazy hectic week! But I figured, and I had several people tell me, that it would be better to hold off than to rush on ahead with a chapter I wasn't satisfied with. So, it's a day late, but hopefully of good quality. Thank you for your patience.

Also, special thanks goes out to Britta and Gemstone! I really appreciate your reviews, guys, they mean a lot to me. Peter's ribs are still on the mend though, Gemstone. :)

Alright, onto the story!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I watched Susan try to make herself look as presentable as possible. It was hard to do considering that the hem of her dress was ragged and short due to making bandages. Plus, her hair was hopelessly tangled with no brush in sight and her face and arms were streaked with mud. Add that to the fact that we were both sopping wet and I didn't know why she even bothered.

I'm sure I didn't look any better, but at least I wasn't trying to improve myself. I accepted the fact that I was a rotten egg and there wasn't anything I could do about it until I reached Narnia. I sighed, wincing when my ribs reminded me that they did not much care for sighing at this point, "Susan, we need to get going."

"Just a second," she said as she tied her hair back into some kind of knot. "I'm almost finished. While you're waiting for me, why don't you try gathering some berries?"

She may care a bit too much about her appearance, but I had to give it to her, she was very smart. I, being the typical male that I am, had already forgotten about the importance of taking food with us. If it had been me and Edmund out here, I'm sure we both would have starved to death. I came over to Susan and gently kissed her mud-streaked forehead. "Thank you, Su. I'm glad you are with me."

She looked confused. "For what? I haven't done anything. And, no offense, I'd rather be at Cair Paravel right now."

I smiled. "I know, but I meant thanks for thinking ahead. I forgot about getting berries."

"Well then, in that case, you're welcome." She rubbed some of the mud off of her arm. "How are you going to carry the berries? We don't have anything else that could work as a container."

"I do." I reached down to my belt and removed a pouch that had been used for money when we set out on this ill-fated journey. Only a few coins remained. I handed the pouch to Susan. "Could you take out the rest of the money? I can't do it too well with my arm in a sling."

She opened the pouch and shot me a look of consternation. "Why Peter, what _have_ you been spending your money on?"

I thought guiltily of the sweet, round balls of candy that a traveling acrobat had sold to me. It had tasted so much like chocolate-which Narnia lacked-that I just couldn't resist buying some. Granted, that wasn't _all_ that I had purchased, but the majority of my money had gone to that. I shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, you know, this and that-bribing guards for information, paying off blackmailers..."

She held up a hand. "If you're not going to tell me the truth, please don't say anything at all." She stuck the coins in a small pocket on her dress-a novelty that she and Lucy had had a hard time convincing the seamstress to add onto their clothes. Then she gave the pouch back to me and went back to scrubbing dirt off of herself.

I rolled my eyes at her pointless gesture, but nonetheless went hunting for berries. As I crouched on the ground and moved from bush to bush, I was surprised at how many different berries there were-blue ones, red ones, yellow ones, orange ones. I carefully avoided the purple ones like Manis had instructed me to do and when my pouch was full, I attached it back to my belt and walked over to Susan.

She sighed as she looked herself over. "I don't think I'll ever be clean until we get back to Narnia."

"Well, in that case, we'd better get moving." I turned to face the sweeping plains again. In the light, crisp rain that was falling, it looked beautiful, but I knew we had quite a long journey ahead of us. I glanced at Susan.

She bit her lip as she gazed at the countryside, probably thinking the same thing as me. But her next words surprised me, "I do hope Edmund and Lucy are alright."

I smiled. It was so much like my gentle sister to be concerned about her siblings at a time like this. I pulled her in close with my good arm. "I'm sure that they're fine, maybe a little worried, but Oreius will take good care of them."

She rested her head against my shoulder for a moment. "Good old Oreius. I miss them all so much."

"Then let's not keep them waiting." I let go of her and started tromping ahead on the plains. "We've got a lot of ground to cover."

Susan followed close beside me, our feet making wet, squishy sounds on the damp grass. I felt relieved at the gentleness of the ground after our mad dash through the woods; it felt good walk at a brisk, but easy pace.

The rain continued to lightly fall on us and before long, our clothes were sticking to us like a second skin. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, but I'd much rather have wet clothes than attacking gremlins.

The forest began to shrink into the distance and everything around us became peacefully still. A few birds streaked across the sky every now and then, but besides that, I saw no other sign of life.

It made me nervous. I had already been on too many campaigns where a stillness like this usually meant that an enemy was lurking nearby. But I didn't want to worry Susan, who looked like she was enjoying this walk, so I kept my guard up without telling her what I was thinking.

Another worry that nagged at the back of my mind was that I didn't know where Narnia _was_. I knew the general direction and I hoped that we were walking towards it, but our guards had been the ones to lead us back home after we were done with our diplomatic missions.

_Dear Aslan_, I prayed silently, _You have brought us thus far by your provision. Lead us now in the way we should go, bring us safely home_.

"Are you alright, Peter?" Susan was staring at me with a faint hint of concern in her eyes.

"I'm fine," I replied.

"Well, if you ever want to stop and rest for a moment, please, don't hesitate to tell me."

"I won't."

Her lips curled into a wry smile. "That's what I thought you'd say. You won't stop until you've collapsed and even then, halting is still optional in your opinion."

"I won't do that," I tried to defend myself. "That would endanger you."

"But if I weren't here, you would. Honestly, Peter, I sometimes wonder if you got any of Mum's good sense. You're just as reckless as Dad."

It made my heart warm to hear mention of our parents. At times it was easy to forget them now that we were in Narnia. But every now and then, I would be reminded of them and I felt such gratitude towards them for all that they had done for us-especially now that I was getting a taste of what it was like to take care of a family. "I just want to take care of you like they did, since they're not here anymore."

"I know." She smiled at me. "I know."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I was getting tired of fields.

We had been walking for hours without any change in the landscape and it was getting monotonous-almost like no matter how much we walked, we would never get anywhere.

In addition to this, my back, arm, and ribs were starting to ache again. I knew I wouldn't be able to walk much longer, but I wanted to go as far as I could. After all, who knew what enemies could be tracking us and Edmund and Lucy were probably sick with worry right about now.

"Ugh!" Susan let out a cry.

"What's the-ah!" I gasped as my foot suddenly slipped into some mud. Glancing over at my sister, I could see that she was wrinkling her nose in disgust as she tried to pull her feet out.

"Just our luck," she said, "we've managed to find a bog."

"Funny how you never see a bog until you're in it. I didn't know there _were_ any bogs near Narnia." I got a whiff of the air then. "Smells good too."

Susan looked at me like I had lost my mind. "I'm not going to sleep in a bog, just so you know. We're going to get through this today."

I quirked an eyebrow at her. "Now look who suddenly doesn't want to stop."

She didn't respond, merely plunged-or rather, yanked and pulled-her way forward.

I struggled on with her, wincing at the effort it took to walk through the bog. The mud sucked at our feet and held them captive even more than the forest mud had. It was slow going and the smell only grew worse as we progressed.

Presently though, the mud began to grow a good deal less muddy and a great deal more watery. Little islands of land with reeds poking out of them began to appear and birds fluttered amongst them, occasionally taking to the sky to have a wild romp in the air.

Susan and I got out of the water and instead began to jump between islands, since the land was not as squishy there. Soon the islands started to connect by small strips of land and we were able to go through the bog much faster. The air got a bit fresher too, probably because there was less mud and more water.

"I say!" Susan exclaimed. "What's that?"

I followed her pointing finger until I saw what she was looking at. It was a very curious construction; the only thing I could think to compare it to was a tepee. A thin line of smoke streamed out of the top of it towards the sky. "I wonder what kind of creature would live here. I mean, there's _nothing_ around here."

"Well," Susan stopped beside me as we stared at the strange little settlement. "They obviously have some form of intelligence-otherwise they wouldn't have known how to make a tepee, or how to light a fire."

"That's what makes me nervous. What if they don't like to be disturbed? They might attack us."

A dull, grim-sounding voice broke in on our conversation, "There are a great many things that might attack you in these marshes-not the least of which are the birds, which might sweep in and pluck your hair out. Or, you might stumble in the water and drown. Or, you might have the misfortune of impaling yourself on a reed. But I can assure you, though I prefer my solitude, I do not wish harm upon you."

Susan and I had jumped at the beginning of this speech and now we held tightly to each other, wondering what was speaking. I instinctively searched the ground for bog-dwelling sprites, but to my surprise, the voice belonged to a much taller creature.

Over to our right, a being stood up, reaching well over six feet tall. I immediately realized that the reason that we had not seen it before was due to the fact that its' appearance blended in perfectly with its' surroundings.

Its' skin was a greyish-brown color. Stringy, reddish hair grew on top of its' head and dull brown eyes stared out at us from a pale face. Its' clothing was a muddy color as well. Its' hands and bare feet were both webbed. One hand carried a fishing pole, while the other held a basket that was filled with what looked like eels.

"What are you?" Susan blurted and then quickly clapped her hands over her mouth, ashamed at her lack of manners.

The creature sucked in its' cheeks, then blew them out again, causing the skin to vibrate in an eerie way. "I am a Marshwiggle, though it doesn't surprise me that you should know nothing of our kind. We are rather unimportant. My name is Sullen-Reed and I would say that it's a pleasure to meet you, but it probably isn't. Such unexpected introductions are rarely welcomed. Besides, by your appearance, it was clearly only bad luck that drove you here. To be sure, nothing good can come of this. Misfortune plagues me here. One day, when I still lived with other Marshwiggles, I said to myself, "Sullen-Reed, this place is far too inhabited for you. Off you go." And off I went, as far as I could. This lonely spot of land appealed to me and I made my home here. But bad luck has fallen on me again, for now I expect that you want to live here too?"

I was speechless. I had never met a creature quite like this before-nor had even heard of a Marshwiggle before. And the way it spoke, in such a grim, we're-all-going-to-die manner, rather unnerved me.

Good old Susan collected her wits faster than I and responded to his question, "No, sir. We don't want to live here. We're merely trying to get home."

Sullen-Reed shook his head slowly. "That's no good-trying to get home. No doubt your home doesn't even exist anymore. Or, even if it did, you'd more than likely get attacked and eaten by some wild creatures on your way back. No, you best stay here-though I don't much care for company-I can make do. You can build your wigwam nearby- of course not _too_ close, otherwise a gale might spring up and knock them both down and kill us all in our sleep. But don't build-"

I interrupted him before he could continue in his frighteningly gloomy speech, "Listen, Mr. Sullen-Reed, sir, we don't want to live here. We're just traveling back to Narnia."

"Narnia?" He sucked in his cheeks again. "You'll never make it. It's at least a day's journey from here and you haven't, from what I can see, got any food. No, no. I suppose I should offer you some food-that would be the right thing to do. Though, I suppose, my food is more than likely to kill you. Nevertheless, come along." And he slunk off with long, slow strides towards his wigwam.

Susan and I exchanged incredulous glances.

"Do you think we should follow him?" My sister asked.

"Well..." My stomach rumbled and I blushed. "I _am_ a little hungry and it would be good to get something more substantial than berries. We need all the help we can get if we're to make it back to Narnia."

Susan sighed. "I had a feeling you would say that. I don't think Mr. Pessimist over there wants to help us, but I suppose I could endure his sober talk if it means a good meal."

I laughed. "Come on, I'm sure he can't be that gloomy all the time."

And with that, we set off after the strange creature from the marshes.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Okey dokey, folks! Just wanted to let you know, the Marshwiggle is not my own invention. C.S. Lewis first introduces them in _The Silver Chair_ with the character Puddleglum. I love Puddleglum! And yes, they are that gloomy. :) Anywho, thank you for reading and have a great week!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

Hello again folks! I'm sure that you are all thinking, "NO! They don't meet _another _character and spend several meaningless chapters with him!" I promise you all, they don't stay with Sullen-Reed long...in fact, they've left his company at the end of this chapter! :)

Thank you all for the reviews! Also, thanks to a and Britta for your reviews.

Britta: Marshwiggles _are_ severely underappreciated-and I don't know why, I think they're great. Also thanks for the tip about the commas, I'm always confused about that rule, so I appreciate you helping me out. :)

Anywho, onto the story!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Peter was wrong about the Marshwiggle. The creature very well _could_ be gloomy all the time.

As we sat on the spongy ground eating a surprisingly tasty eel stew, we were forced to listen to Sullen-Reed ramble on and on about how we were likely to die of food poisoning, or how a sudden wind was going to blow out the cooking fire, or the marshes were sure to be flooded with rainwater. He adeptly ignored the fact that the rain had stopped a while ago and all that was left were clouds.

I tried to tune him out as I spooned more stew into my mouth.

Peter was eating as well, nodding every now and then to be polite, but I could tell from the vacant look in his eyes that he wasn't paying attention to Sullen-Reed any more than I was.

"....or perhaps," the creature went on, "we might all be accosted by the pack of wolves and hags that passed through this way not too long ago. Nasty creatures they are, I'm sure we would all die very painful deaths."

Peter choked on his stew. As he coughed and hacked, his trembling hand put his bowl down.

"See?" The Marshwiggle said gloomily, " I knew my food would not be to your liking."

But I knew what had disturbed my brother, for it had caught my attention as well. "No, no! Your food is fine, but what were you saying about wolves and hags?"

"Hmm? Oh yes. They're horrible, dreadful even. They'll probably attack you first, they have no decency towards ladies-"

"No!" Peter hacked out as his coughs gradually died down. "You said they were _here_ not too long ago."

Sullen-Reed thought for a moment, his dull brown eyes rolled up to the heavens. "Oh yes....they came through here right before you did. I hid in my tent as it were-though I thought I was sure to be found and killed-but they weren't interested in me. I overheard them talking about a king and a queen that they were going to ambush....the poor souls will more than likely not survive. In fact..."

But Peter and I weren't listening anymore. Both of our faces had gone deathly pale.

"They know we're alive," Peter whispered. "They're going to kill us before we can get back to Narnia."

"What are we going to do?" I asked, fear clenching my heart. We had come so far. We were _so close_.

"What was that?" Sullen-Reed looked interested....or as interested as a Marshwiggle _could_ look. "_You_ are the ones that they are looking for?"

"Yes, I'm King Peter and she's Queen Susan of Narnia. We were ambushed a few days back by werewolves, dwarves, and hags. Our company was killed and we almost died ourselves. But Aslan protected us and we were able to escape. Please, do you know anything about _where_ they were going or _how_ they are planning to attack us?" Peter asked, his good hand clenched into a fist.

I could almost see his mind working out a strategy. He and Edmund had become quite adept at planning out attacks and retreats.

_Dear Aslan, please help him to come up with something_. I knew I would be virtually useless in strategizing. I hated battles-far too bloody for my tastes.*

"....heard they were planting themselves near some trees, but I can't say precisely where. I don't venture into Narnia very often. In fact, the last time I did I had the misfortune of-"

"_Please_! Not now!" I nearly cried in frustration.

Peter looked irritated too, his face pinched up in thought. "Mr. Sullen-Reed, the woods that border Narnia are extensive, did they mention any specific direction that they were taking?"

The Marshwiggle shook his head glumly. "I'm sure they did, but I did not hear it. My curse has come to haunt me again. I'm afraid I've always been bad at details. The other Marsh-"

"Wait." Peter held up a hand. "You mentioned only wolves and hags, were there any dwarves with them?"

Sullen-Reed pursed his lips, trying to remember. "I don't _think_ so, but I was hiding in my tent at the time. I more than likely missed some of them..."

"Or," Peter gave me a tense look, "they're coming along _behind_ us to harry us into the trap."

I swallowed hard and set my bowl of food down, no longer hungry. "We should go then."

Peter nodded and began to stand up. Then his gaze fell to the Marshwiggle. "What about Sullen-Reed? Do you think he'll be alright?"

The creature held up one of its' webbed hands. "No, no. Do not concern yourselves with me. I will stay here. I prefer my solitude to running around in the wilderness. I've lived a long life anyway. If I die, which I'm sure I will, at least I have lived long enough to enjoy myself."

I wondered how he got _any_ enjoyment in his life, but at the same time, I worried for him. However, if he had decided to stay, I would not force him to leave against his will. I stood up and brushed my skirt off. "Well, thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Sullen-Reed. If we should survive, we will be sure to return your kindness."

"Do not trouble yourself for such a low creature like myself. It is my solemn duty to help those in need-though they seldom cross my path-"

"Yes, well," Peter hastily interrupted before he could continue in one of his long, drawn-out speeches, "we'll see you again, Sullen-Reed, but for now, we must be going."

"Of course." Sullen-Reed blew out his cheeks in that disturbing way of his and lifted his hand in farewell.

"Goodbye!" I called as Peter and I walked rapidly away from the encampment. Before we had gone too far, my brother took the time to crouch on the ground and study the footprints that had been left there earlier. They led off straight ahead.

"Maybe they're headed to the woods north of here. We could turn east now and head to Narnia that way." Peter pointed to the right. He looked up at me. "Whatever way we decide to go, we need to make a decision fast and walk as carefully as we can."

"I'll follow you wherever you go. Lead the way, Peter," I said breathlessly as I stole furtive glances around the area.

Peter nodded and turned east. "Let's go."

No more words were necessary as we moved at a brisk but wary pace. Every moment was tense, now that we knew our enemies were still hounding us. I half-expected to be shot at any moment and my side gave a phantom twinge at the very thought of being wounded again.

The marsh was difficult to get through and Peter had taken to the water-probably so we wouldn't leave footprints. We splashed along as quietly as we could, but every splash sent a chill through my heart, knowing that we could be covering up the noise of pursuers. But every glance behind me proved that my fears were unfounded, for I could see no signs of pursuit.

"The marsh is ending," Peter panted, startling me at the sudden break of the silence.

"Good," I whispered back.

And he was right. The water level dropped and the ground became harder packed. Soon we were jogging along firm ground again, heading for some trees in the distance: our entrance to Narnia.

The sight of trees made my stomach twist unpleasantly. I didn't want to go into woods again, especially since our enemies might be lurking in them. But the only way to get to Narnia was through them.

_Oh Aslan! Please let us not be caught!_ I prayed as we got closer and closer to the looming forest.

"It's okay, Susan," Peter gasped as if he had sensed my thoughts. "No matter what happens, we'll be okay. Aslan will be with us in death as in life."

_But I don't want to die_, I thought, tears blurring my vision.

A sudden, chilling screech sounded directly above us.

Peter and I stumbled to a halt, looking up. To my dismay, I recognized one of the creatures that the White Witch had employed in her service: a great, winged creature that was similar to Earth's pterodactyls.* I could still remember how these evil creatures had screamed happily in the air as Aslan was killed on the Stone Table.

It stared down at us with greedy eyes, letting out another piercing shriek of triumph. In the distance, I could see more of the flying creatures rushing to join it. Little black dots behind us began to move in closer: dwarves no doubt. And the area around us began to issue forth wolves and hags that had crouched down behind fallen logs and boulders.

"Run!" Peter screamed.

We both darted forward, hearts pounding with fear as shrieks and screams erupted around us. The creatures rushed in towards us, taunting us with wild cries.

"Duck!" Peter called and we both hunched over just in time to avoid being caught up by one of the flying creature's talons.

I felt the wind in the creature's wake as it snorted at its failure. I was so frightened that I almost wanted to lay down and cry. But I kept running, even as the sound of our pursuers got closer and closer. But, furious as they were, the creatures had yet to throw any weapons at us-unlike the last time they had attacked us.

_They must be planning to capture us_. The thought spurred me on to go even faster and as I ran, I hunched low to the ground and gathered stones. I tossed them at my enemies as I tried to escape, more often than not missing them because I wasn't aiming properly. But every now and then, I would hear one of our pursuers give a cry.

And then, the unexpected happened.

Peter stopped running.

I ran past him for a few paces and then stopped as well, nearly frantic. "What are you doing?! Run!"

He shook his head and drew out his sword with a grim look. "No, go Susan. Find Ed and Lucy. These creatures mean to capture us; I can hold on until you rescue me."

"Peter." My heart twisted in anguish as the creatures drew closer.

He glanced at our enemies, his face set in determination. "Run, Susan."

"But-" I hesitated, one hand gripping a stone.

_Run, Susan_.

That voice did not belong to my brother. It was too deep and rich. I half-expected to see Aslan standing nearby.

And I knew what I had to do.

Tears running down my cheeks, I turned and ran towards the woods, leaving my brother to the enemy.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I know, I'm a bad author, leaving you all like that. :) Sorry! Ok....well...not _too_ sorry. *sees the reviewers brandishing weapons* Eep!

*I know that Susan fights in the movies and they make her out to be this great warrior woman, and I know that she can fight. But according to the books, she doesn't like fighting and it is usually Lucy who goes out with the boys on campaigns while Susan stays at Cair Paravel.

*Does anyone know what these creatures are called?

Thank you all for reading and I hope you have a great week!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

Hello again! I hope you are all doing well. Thank you for all the reviews and for those of you who told me what those flying things are called. I knew I had heard of harpies before, but I wasn't sure what they were....now I do. :)

Musiclover: Thanks for the review! I really appreciate it. :)

And on to the story!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I cannot describe the relief I felt when Susan finally turned around and left me. I could only pray that she would reach safety. Perhaps I could hold off our attackers just long enough for her to get a head start.

I bent my knees and readied my sword, anticipating the first strike and loathing the fact that I could only use my left arm.

The first creature to come bounding up to me was a large grey wolf. Though he snapped at me fiercely, I silenced him in one swift stroke, my blade sinking deeply into his throat. I drew it out and made a swipe at the underbelly of one of the harpies, but I only managed to give it a shallow cut.

My back screamed at my efforts, sending ripples of pain throughout my body, but I dared not stop even for a moment. My left hand trembled where it grasped the hilt of Rhindon and I clenched my fist tighter around it, determined to fight as long as I could.

A dwarf came at me next, wielding a short sword. His dark eyes blazed as our weapons met with a loud _clang_. Dwarves never ceased to amaze me with how much strength they could put into their attacks. My wrist ached as I twisted away his blade and kicked the sword out of his hand.

As he scrambled to find his weapon, I felt a sharp sting on the back of my leg. I whirled around to find a hag snarling at me. I swung my sword in reflex, lopping off her head in a clean blow.

I let out a cry as one of the harpies tore at my left shoulder, ripping away both cloth and skin. The creature flew off again before I had a chance to attack it. Blood now ran down my good arm, causing my already tentative grip on my sword to become weaker.

_Oh Great Lion, help me!_

I stabbed an approaching dwarf in the heart, then sliced off the paw of a nearby wolf. Hags screeched at me and wrenched my sling away, twisting my still-healing right arm.

I screamed at the nearly blinding pain that rippled from that area and swung my sword in desperation, hitting something in my fervor.

They released my arm, but the limb still throbbed as if they still had it in their clutches. I pulled it to my chest, panting hard.

But now they weren't attacking anymore. Instead they were circling me, cackling, eyes gleaming. They each were watching me with malice, as if they knew something I didn't know.

I gripped Rhindon, warily searching for the next attack. My eyes darted to the sky for a brief moment, expecting the harpies to come at me, but they were all fluttering to the ground, joining their companions as eerie spectators.

I began to turn, slowly, keeping an eye on as many creatures as I could, wondering what they were waiting for.

A massive hand suddenly clamped on the back of my neck and lifted me off of the ground. Cruel claws dug into my throat and I could feel tiny rivulets of blood seeping down into the collar of my tunic.

I choked, squirming uselessly, kicking out with my legs as I tried to hang on to my sword. But my body was exhausted and hurting. My back, arm, shoulder, and now throat-they all cried out for me to give up, to stop fighting.

I was pulled back against a hairy chest, which I now realized belong to a minotaur. I was reminded of the attack a few days ago-the same strangling feeling that I had experienced now coming back to haunt me. I rolled my tear-stained eyes back to see my enemy.

His hairy snout rubbed up against my right cheek and I flinched in disgust. His claws dug deeper into my neck, nearly cutting off my air.

"Give it up, little king," he snarled, his putrid breath clogging up the fresh air I so desperately needed.

I tried to hang on to Rhindon, but I felt a dozen different hands prying apart my grasp and ripping it away from me. I sagged in my captor's hold, defeated.

A hideous laugh erupted from the minotaur and was quickly echoed by all of the creatures surrounding me.

My vision was blurring; I knew I was only seconds away from passing out and I welcomed the reprieve unconsciousness would bring to me.

But these creatures were far too cruel to let me have even a momentary respite.

I cried out as I was thrown to the ground, every inch of my body ached in protest. I looked up from my sprawled position to see the minotaur grinning at me with his great horse-like mouth.

And then, they were all on me-twisting and pulling on my hair, digging their fingers into my wounded shoulder, spitting and screeching all around me.

"Bind him," the minotaur ordered.

I stared at him in disbelief, hoping against hope that they wouldn't-"Aaaah!"

My injured arm was handled callously as it was twisted behind me and bound tightly to my other arm. I could barely breathe, my head sagging back against a dwarf's chest as I gasped for air.

"Aww, poor little king," the dwarf mocked, patting my head in a less-than-comforting manner. "Too much pain for you?"

The minotaur crouched down in front of me. His clawed hand slapped one of my boots. "He hasn't even begun to feel _true_ pain."

The evil company howled with laughter.

"But, we waste time here." The minotaur pointed to several wolves, hags , and dwarves, "Go after the queen, she can't have gone far."

My heart pounded in fear as the group cackled and took off towards the forest. The dwarf holding my head dug his fingers into my jaw and forced me to watch them leave. "See that, little king? Your bravery did nothing, your sister will be caught and then-" he swiped a finger across my bleeding throat, "-we'll kill her right in front of your eyes before we do the same to you."

"You will not succeed," I spoke strongly. "You may kill me, but Aslan will protect her....you will never get your hands on her. She will escape and live to bring you to justice along with all the rest of your foul kind."

The minotaur's face twisted with rage as the creatures hissed in displeasure. He reached down, grabbed my collar, and jerked me up to eye level. "And where is your mighty lion now? Why doesn't he save you now if he is so mighty?"

"Perhaps it is not his will. It is not my place to say what he will do and what he plans."

With a roar, the creature backhanded me and let me fall to the ground-right on top of my injured arm. A strangled moan escaped me as I curled into myself.

"By the time we're through with you, we'll be offering you broken body as a bloody sacrifice to your great lion...and _then_ we will see who is truly mighty. Come! Let us take him to Leptor!"

The animals, hags, and dwarves gave a wild cry and I was suddenly pulled upright again. Two harpies latched onto my arms and began to lift me off of the ground.

The pain that swept through me at that moment was too much for my overloaded body to handle and I lost consciousness as soon as my feet left the ground.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The faint hiss and murmur of several voices was the first thing that greeted me as I came back to the world of the living. The second thing that welcomed me back was the almost overwhelming pain that seared through my limbs, especially through my injured arm.

I groaned.

The murmurs were replaced by a light shuffle of feet in my direction. A gentle, smooth finger brushed across my cheek and I leaned into the touch, my near-delirious mind thinking that perhaps my sister was here and she was healing me. "Lucy..."

A wild cacophony of laughter arose after I said her name and I instantly knew that I was nowhere near any of the members of my family. I remembered, at that moment, how I had been captured and my eyes shot open to catch a glimpse of where I was.

To my surprise, a rather handsome man loomed in front of me. His hair was very dark, almost black, with streaks of grey in it. His ears were oddly shaped and his eyes were a strange, golden color. He smiled when he saw that I was looking at him. "Our guest awakens." *

Howls and cries echoed all around me, but I kept my eyes on this man, curious because I had seen no other humans besides myself and my siblings in Narnia. A sudden tremor of pain went through my body and I moaned.

"Don't like your accommodations?" His low voice taunted.

I moved my gaze away from his face to find out what type of "accommodations" he had given to me. I soon discovered why my right arm ached so badly-both of my arms were stretched around a tree trunk and tied securely with a rope. My legs were pulled out in front of me, the ankles lashed together. My shoulder was caked with blood from the harpy that had attacked me earlier, and the bark of the tree rubbed unpleasantly against my still-stinging back.

I grimaced and rested my head back against the tree, for the moment in too much pain to be too frightened of my circumstances.

"You're very talkative," the strange man in front of me commented. "What's the matter? Not feeling too good?"

I swallowed, gazing around at the surrounding company to see if....

"She's not here....yet." The man read my thoughts. A malicious smile spread across his face. "But don't fret, she soon will be....and your courageous efforts will have all been in vain. Isn't that marvelous?"

"Aslan will protect her," I replied firmly, knowing that it was only by Aslan's provision that Susan had gotten away at all.

The dull yellow eyes narrowed. The man stretched out his hand towards my face again. With deceptively soft movements, he brushed the tips of his fingers over my forehead, across my eye, pausing for a moment on my cheek. "Is that so? Answer me this, little king, will your great lion save you from _this_?"

And suddenly the hand became a wolf's paw.

_Werewolf_, I thought a split second before the claws struck viciously down my cheek, leaving shallow, throbbing cuts on my face.

I winced and turned my head away.

The werewolf followed me, his handsome face now turned into a snarling animal's. But still, the glowing eyes remained. His breathe tickled my tingling face as he spat, "Allow me to introduce myself, O High King of Narnia. I am Leptor and once I have killed both you and your siblings, I'll take care of your precious lion and then _I_ will be King of Narnia."

I shook my head in disgust. "You will never succeed. Your Witch tried to kill Aslan before and yet he didn't remain dead. How do you, a mere minion compared to her, plan to triumph where she failed so miserably?"

Several animated snarls erupted in the group and I experienced yet another brain-jarring blow as Leptor backhanded me.

I gingerly licked at the blood that seeped from my now-split bottom lip. If I didn't keep my mouth shut, I _wouldn't_ be able to survive until my siblings got here. I made a mental note to myself to not antagonize these brutes any more than I already had.

Leptor changed back to his human form. "You will see, little king. I will triumph and the poor Narnians will not be able to find enough of your bodies to bury after I am through with you."

I closed my eyes against his taunts, pressing my head back against the tree trunk. _Aslan, please help me to endure_.

Leptor's hand brushed against my cheek once more and when I opened my eyes, he was dangling his bloodied fingers right in front of my face. "You see this? Soon, it's all you will be able to see, smell, and breathe....get your rest while you can, _your highness_, for when your sister comes, the blood will flow."

He pulled away from me amid the cheers of his supporters and all I could do was glare back at him. He smiled and slunk off into the shadows, leaving me to my thoughts.

I dropped my head to my chest, breathing deeply to calm my fragile nerves. My siblings would come for me....I just had to trust Aslan that they would come in time.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

*I know that this description doesn't match with the ones in the movies, but this is just my opinion on how werewolves look. :)

And there you have it, folks! I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

Hello everyone! I apologize for the lateness of the chapter-I had several big assignments due this week and my stories kind of fell by the wayside. I promise I will get review responses out to you all as soon as possible. Thank you for all of the great reviews!

Also, Puzzler had a good question for me and to clear up any confusion you all might have, I decided to answer it here. The question was about how old the Pevensies are at this point and how long they have been in Narnia. My impression from the books, and I may be wrong about this (I don't know if they ever give a precise age for each of the children), is that when the Pevensies first arrive in Narnia, Peter is 14, Susan is 13, Edmund is 11, and Lucy is 9. That's just my opinion, so if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me. And this story takes place about a year since they have been in Narnia. Sorry about any confusion I caused you all! :)

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I could scarcely breathe as I ran away from the horrendous shrieks that the creatures attacking my brother made. My vision blurred in and out of focus as I tried hard not to cry.

I reached the woods that Peter and I had been heading towards and paused at one of the trees to look back. I could no longer even see my sibling for he was completely surrounded by hags, dwarves, and harpies.

My heart ached in fear with the thought that he may have already been slain.

_Keep going, Susan_, I told myself, _or you will have run in vain_.

But it was hard to get my feet to obey. Nevertheless, I tore my gaze from the gruesome sight and stumbled on into the forest.

My gasps for air bordered on hyperventilation as I tripped and staggered through the trees. The forest was not nearly as dark or thick as the sprites' forest had been, but though it was much easier to travel through, I felt like I was making hardly any progress.

_Hang on Peter! Hang on!_ I pleaded desperately.

Twigs and leaves crunched under my feet as I darted around tall trees in my path. They were the kind of trees that did not have branches low to the ground, so I wouldn't be able to climb them if I got attacked.

I snuck a glance behind me to see if anyone was following me. All was still, except for the leaves that were fluttering back to the ground after I had dashed through them.

Perhaps, if they were so busy with Peter, they would not come after me. It was a faint hope, but one that made me slow my pace.

My sides ached too much for me to keep running at the speed that I had been running. So I began to walk as fast as I could through the trees, ears and eyes alert for anything that could attack me.

I was so frightened and distraught, for I knew that I had to go nearly a day's journey to reach Narnia in order to even get help for Peter. And then we would have to travel a day's journey back and then we would have to find where the creatures took him and then he might be dead and then-

_Peace child_, a gentle, but authoritative voice told me.

"Aslan," I murmured, scanning the area for the Lion. But he was nowhere to be found.

_Trust me_.

I let out a deep breath, releasing all of my fears and worries. "I trust you, Aslan."

_Then keep going_.

So I did.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

My head drooped in exhaustion as I staggered through the trees. It seemed like I had been walking through the trees for days, but I knew it had probably only been a few hours, if that.

Only the thought of Peter dying kept me going, but I was so tired and hungry and thirsty-for I had dropped my water pouch when I ran away earlier.

The sunlight filtering through the leafy branches above me was waning and still there was no visible end to the forest. Just trees, trees, and more trees.

A sudden rustle in one of the trees made me look up, but it was only a small squirrel. It looked at me curiously and, for a moment, I thought it might be a talking animal. But the lack of intelligence in its' eyes confounded my hopes and, with a flick of its' tail, the creature vanished.

I sighed.

"Is her highness all alone?" A voice cackled from behind me.

A thrill of fear darted through me as I whirled around. I screamed as I found myself face to face with a hag...and she was not alone.

In my distraction, I had not noticed that company of creatures that had crept up behind me. They hadn't given up on me as I had thought; they had been following me all along!

"No!" I cried, turning and running again-all previous exhaustion forgotten.

The creatures hissed and cackled with glee as they gave chase.

A wolf leapt in front of my path and I turned to the side. I got a few paces away and then a dwarf threw an axe on my intended escape route. Everywhere I went, I was cut off. But they always let me think that I had escaped before they assured me that I was just as trapped as I was before-like a mouse that a cat bats around.

"Now, now," a dwarf taunted as he tripped me. "Don't worry your pretty little head. We'll take _good_ care of you."

I sprawled onto the ground, scratching up the palms of my hands. As the creatures closed in around me, I frantically tried to scramble away.

But they caught hold of my boots and dragged me back, laughing at my pitiful attempts to escape. And in the midst of my frantic struggles, I felt the jagged fingernail of a hag stroke my face.

"Such a pretty thing," the she-creature crooned. "It'd be a pity to ruin such a lovely face....but you know, accidents happen."

I gasped as the nail dug into my cheek.

A dwarf joined in her mocking, waving his cruelly-shaped dagger in front of my face. "Yes, such a tragedy that the queen of Narnia fell on a dagger and gouged out both of her eyes."

I whimpered and tried to twist out of their grasps, but they held me firmly. The dagger's edge came to rest right below my right eye and I shut my eyes, terrified at the pain that I was about to feel.

But instead of experiencing a dagger cutting into my eye, I heard a terrible shriek and then suddenly, the knife's edge was gone. Several of the hands holding me released me as terrible screams rent the air.

I tentatively opened my eyes to see what had caused the change and nearly wept in relief as Narnians came running into the area to rescue me-with Edmund and Lucy leading them.

"Don't think you're out of danger yet," a dwarf hissed at me as he brought his dagger up, ready to kill me.

_Oh no you don't_, I thought, _I'm not getting this close to being rescued to be killed now_.

I grabbed a hold of his wrist and twisted it around so that the blade pointed at the dwarf, just as he lunged forward to kill me. His eyes widened as he felt the blade sink into his chest and I winced with him-having never cared to see anything die.

As the light faded from his eyes, I grabbed the dagger and jerked it out of his chest-gulping at the nasty squelching noise it made as it came out.

I shook off the hand of a hag who was busy watching my siblings rip her companions to bits. She turned to me in surprise, but she was too late to defend herself as I stabbed her in the throat.

I struggled up to my feet as I pulled my weapon free. I was trembling badly, my recent scare rendering me almost useless.

Across the clearing, Edmund's dark eyes met mine. He looked worried as he called over his shoulder, "Oreius! Get Susan out of here!"

The centaur galloped toward me, brandishing his sword. I felt so relieved at his appearance that I let the dagger drop from my hand.

But I had let down my guard too soon. A vicious growl to my right attracted my attention and I turned just in time to see a wolf getting ready to pounce on top of me.

All I could do was put my arms up in a meager defense.

The wolf jumped.

_Swish!_

A dagger imbedded itself into the wolf's side in mid-air and the animal fell with a feeble moan. I caught a brief glance of Lucy smiling triumphantly over her kill before Oreius came to a halt in front of me and extended a hand to me.

"Come, my Queen."

I grabbed his hand and swung myself onto his back. I wrapped my arms around his waist and then we were off, galloping out of range of the battle. As I clung to my rescuer, I saw that we were reaching the end of the woods. I had been closer to Narnia than I had originally thought.

We came to a halt outside the tree line. I slowly slipped from Oreius's back and rested my head against his side. Now that I was out of danger, I let the tears fall.

"My lady," the centaur spoke to me gently as one of his hands smoothed my hair back. "What is wrong?"

"Oreius," I choked on my words. "They took Peter. I-I don't kn-know if he's alive or n-not...and... and I j-just...._left_ him."

"Ssh," the centaur comforted me. His strong hand slipped under my chin and lifted my head up so I could look him in the eyes. "We will find your brother and I am sure you did nothing that he didn't want you to do."

I sniffed and rubbed away my tears with the back of my hand. "I kn-know. He t-told me to run away. But I still f-feel as if I should have d-done something."

"You wouldn't have been able to do anything and had they captured you as well, neither of you would probably be alive at this moment."

I rested my head against his side again. "I just hope he's alright. We got separated a while ago; I don't know where they took him."

"We'll find him....are you injured at all, my lady?" His concerned gaze swept over my rather bedraggled form.

"No, I'm just exhausted and frightened....and I want to go home."

"Don't worry, your majesty, you are safe now."

We stayed like that for several moments. I relished in the security that I felt around Oreius-who had become sort of a father-figure to my siblings and I ever since we had arrived in Narnia. He stroked my hair and wiped away the traces of tears on my cheeks.

A moment later, he announced, "I believe your siblings are almost here."

I looked up at him in puzzlement and then at the trees, for I could see no sign of either Edmund or Lucy. But I suppose that he must have been able to hear them with his bigger ears better than I could hear. I stared eagerly in between the trees, longing to be reunited with my family.

"Susan!" Lucy's call came before I could see her, but I finally managed to catch a glimpse of my sister's bright smile as she ran to me.

I stepped away from Oreius and opened my arms to her. She flung herself into the embrace, squeezing me so tightly that I could scarcely breathe. But I didn't care. I laid kiss after kiss on her forehead as my tears fell afresh.

Strong arms wrapped around both of us and Edmund's deepening voice sounded in my ear, "I'm so glad you're alright, Su."

I hugged my siblings tightly to me-the very same siblings I thought I would never see again-and I couldn't help but cry, "Thank you, Aslan."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

So, Edmund and Lucy are finally here! Yay!

I hope you all enjoyed and thank you for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

Hello everyone! Thank you for all of the great reviews, I really appreciate it. :)

Thanks musiclover! I'm glad you're enjoying it.

And I do apologize for this being a day late...I'm thinking I'll just change my update date from Thursdays to Fridays, because Thursdays always seem to be extremely busy for me.

Warning: This chapter is going to be a little bit graphic towards the end. I tried not to make it too much so and it still fits within the realm of PG-13, I believe. But still, if you feel uncomfortable with blood and the picking-on of poor defenseless boys.....then please, skip this chapter. :)

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I could tell that something must have gone terribly wrong in Leptor's plans, for all the creatures keeping guard on me kept shifting nervously. And I knew if _they_ were nervous, it surely couldn't bode well for me.

I pressed my head back against the tree that I was tied to, breathing deeply through my pain. My arm, shoulder, and back were all aching fiercely. Sweat trickled down my chest as I anxiously waited for what Leptor had in store for me.

The creatures around me began to stir uneasily as something approached from behind us. They turned in anticipation, readying their weapons in case it was an enemy.

I saw one of the dwarves prepare to throw his axe.

But a gravelly voice called out, "Don't shoot! It's me, Nauglim!"

The guards lowered their weapons and the dwarf who had been about to kill the intruder answered back, "Nauglim! Where is everyone else? Where is the queen?"

The wolf, for indeed a wolf it was, came panting up next to the tree I was tied to. He stopped in front of the dwarf, but not before shooting me a scathing glare. "Perhaps here is not the best place to discuss what happened. Where is Lord Leptor?"

The dwarf jerked his head in the direction that the werewolf had gone earlier. "This way, I'll take you. As for the rest of you, make sure our little _king_ stays right where he is," he finished his statement by backhanding me.

My vision swirled out of focus as the company cackled around me. I kept my face in the direction that it been knocked in, for I was too tired to lift it back up again.

The wolf and dwarf disappeared to inform Leptor what happened.

Even though Nauglim refused to reveal what had occurred in front of me, because of his lack of companions and the desperate gleam in his eye, I knew that things had not gone according to plan. It gave me hope that perhaps Susan had gotten away successfully.

Now I just had to keep my word to her and stay alive until she came back with help. But I knew that was going to be easier said than done, for now that my sister had escaped, Leptor might just kill me sooner than expected.

I heard the crunch of leaves under his feet. I slowly rotated my head in the direction of the sound so that I could look the werewolf in the eyes.

He didn't appear to be too angry, his golden eyes were a bit less bright than they had been when we first met. But other than that, he was calm and collected. He fingered a long, jagged-edge dagger in one hand and a small vial in the other.

He came to a halt right in front of me and stared down at me. The creatures around us grew quiet, only the sounds of their nervous shifting could be heard.

My heart was beating hard in expectation. Was I going to die here? Would he torture me first? What were the dagger and the vial going to be used for?

Leptor seemed to sense my nervousness as a smirk twisted his features. He tore his gaze from me and addressed the crowd around us. "It would appear that our little queen has been rescued by her siblings. Unfortunately, the Narnian rescue force destroyed our troops-there were no survivors. Even poor Nauglim just suffered a sudden stroke and died....more than likely that stroke was caused by Narnian witchcraft."

I rolled my eyes at the thought. I was sure that everyone in this clearing knew _exactly_ how Nauglim died. Not to mention that no true Narnians ever practiced witchcraft. But I could care less about the loss of these wicked forces, for my siblings were on their way to rescue me-and they were closer than I had previously thought.

While I had been silently rejoicing, however, Leptor continued to talk. He grabbed my attention again as he crouched in front of me. "And so, the question remains, what shall we do with our guest of honor? For, it appears, that we will have no party tonight....such a shame really."

He tucked the vial he was holding into his tunic somehow and began to run his free hand over the edge of his blade.

I automatically followed his motions, watching his thumb rub back and forth on the weapon. "Do you know what this blade is, little king?"

My eyes flicked up to his face as he smiled at me in mild amusement. I swallowed. "No."

A chuckle escaped him as he sat down indian-style and continued to caress the dagger. "No, I don't suppose you would. After all, rumor has it that you're from a land outside of this world, so you wouldn't be familiar with old Narnian legends. And even if you were, I doubt your Narnian professors would teach you the legends of werewolves."

A ripple of laughter ran through the crowd that was watching.

I kept silent.

Leptor wasn't bothered by my lack of reaction. He held up the blade horizontally so I could examine the edge in greater detail. "This knife had been passed down in my family for five generations. Its maker, a werewolf named Krepto, was a great king in the north lands of Narnia and many creatures from all over the world would bring him gifts and sacrifices-for they knew his hunger was great and they desired to protect their people from him. The sacrifices-usually the eldest offspring of a noble family-would be taken to him and Krepto would use this very knife to cut their throats and so drain them of blood."

I felt sick to my stomach throughout his entire tale and when he finished, I was sure I was going to vomit. But though I felt queasy, I was more nervous about where this story was going and what it meant for me. _Aslan, please help me!_

"Fitting-," Leptor continued as he turned his gaze back towards his knife, "-that you are the eldest in your family. I guess you could say, we're keeping with tradition."

That was the only warning I got before he lunged forward and stabbed me right in my wounded shoulder. The pain was so unexpected and overwhelming that I couldn't help the scream that tore from my throat.

Shrieks of delight erupted around me and I felt Leptor's breath tickle against my ear as he hissed, "Yes, scream for me, little one. No one will hear your cries-or at least, no one who _cares_."

I opened my eyes as I gasped for breath. His twisted smile was all I could see. "You're sick."

"Maybe..." He chuckled and then wrenched the dagger out of my shoulder, eliciting another cry from me, "..but life is so much more enjoyable this way, don't you think?"

I stared at him in disbelief, wondering how _anyone_ could possibly enjoy the torment of another. Blood was running down from my wound now, coating the whole left side of me with red. And everyone around me was laughing, crying out their approval of Leptor's actions.

He leaned back again, reaching into his tunic and pulling out the vial that he had put away earlier. He untwisted the cap and grabbed my jaw with his free hand. "Time to take your medicine."

I struggled violently, pressing my lips tightly together. I didn't know what was in the vial, but I knew it couldn't be good.

But my struggles proved to be in vain as his strong fingers dug into my jaw and pried my mouth open. Before I knew what was happening, I was choking on the bitter fluid that invaded my mouth.

Leptor clamped my mouth shut and pinched my nose closed. "Swallow it."

I tried to spit it out, to force it past my lips, but the fluid just sloshed around inside. I couldn't breathe and I couldn't free myself from his grasp, no matter how fiercely I kicked and twisted to get away. Black dots began to appear in my vision.

"Swallow it!" The werewolf hissed again.

I conceded defeat. My body went limp as I finally swallowed the bitter concoction that had been forced upon me.

Leptor smiled in triumph and released my face.

I panted for air as soon as he did so, frightened, but needing to know what he had given me. "What...what was....that?"

He didn't respond, only sat back and watched me with a vicious gleam in his eyes. The creatures surrounding us were growing positively wild as they cackled at my plight.

I just braced myself against the tree I was tied to, waiting for whatever was in that potion to work its' havoc. Nothing happened for awhile and I began to wonder if it had just been some form of sleeping potion.....but I didn't feel sleepy.

Even the evil creatures became silent, their bloodthirsty needs not being met.

And through it all, Leptor just smiled at me.

It started as a faint burning pain in my abdomen and then rapidly spread up my chest and down my legs. I gasped at the suddenness of it.

"And here it comes..." The werewolf crossed his arms in satisfaction.

"Wh-What?" I managed to get out before the pain grew worse. It permeated every facet of my body, every nerve felt like it was on fire. And then.....my left side began to feel warm. I glanced to the left, wondering what was the cause of the sudden heat. Alarm ran through me as I saw blood gushing out of the dagger wound that I had just received.

I twisted in my bonds as I tried to escape the poison that now ran rampant through my body. My broken arm violently protested my actions, but that pain was faint compared to what I was now experiencing.

My head knocked back against the tree as faint groans of pain burst through my tightly closed lips. The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth before it spilled out of my mouth and dribbled down my chin.

My head was spinning, all of my wounds were pouring out blood, and I could hardly breathe for the pain. Over my distress, I could still hear the evil creatures laughing and screaming in delight over my troubles.

Leptor's voice suddenly sounded in my ear again, "The potion that I just gave you is one of the most effective of werewolf magic. It brings forth the blood from every wound that I make so that we can be sure to get every drop of blood from you."

What madness was this? They were going to drain me of blood? I whimpered as another tremor shook my body.

"As much as I'd love to stretch this out as long as I could, I'm afraid that we are rather short on time; so let's speed up the process, shall we?"

I didn't have to wonder long what that meant, for the werewolf was quick to plunge his dagger into my side. I cried out again, writhing to get away from the source of my anguish. As the weapon was wrenched out again and blood began to pour from the wound, I screamed out the name of the only one who could now help me, "ASLAN!"

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Well! That was rather unexpected....I actually didn't plan on doing that to poor Peter, it just kind of came out of my pen-blame the pen, not me! Anyway, thanks for reading and have a great week! :)


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

Ok, thanks to the wonderful AdrenalineRush16, I have found out how to fix the problem in chapter 12-where Leptor became Nestor. So now, I believe that it is all in order and my were-wolf has his proper name back. Thanks AdrenalineRush16!

musiclover-Thanks for the review! I'm glad you enjoy all the references to Aslan-I try hard to make him a very important part of my Narnia stories. :)

And here we go!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"It's not safe!"

"No, I'm not leaving!"

"_Susan_."

In typical sibling fashion, within fifteen minutes of being reunited, Edmund and I were arguing. The Narnians surrounded us in a protective circle and Lucy watched us anxiously, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

The reason for our disagreement was that Edmund had suggested that I return to Narnia with a contingent of our guards. Of course I had blatantly refused to leave-Peter was just as much my brother as he was Edmund's and I wanted to see him safe just as much, if not more, than he did.

"Susan, please, I'm not doing this because I think that you can't fight or because I don't want you to rescue him; but you were just rescued yourself, you're not in your full strength. I don't want you to get hurt-I don't want to lose you." His dark eyes bored into me, compassionate and concerned for me. His hand gently brushed my bruised cheek. "Please?"

I wanted to agree, if only to ease his mind and comfort him. But I couldn't, because it would endanger both him and Lucy. "Edmund, I understand your concern and I appreciate it, but you must not divide our forces. The company that took Peter was great- we will need every Narnian in order to defeat this enemy. If it will give you peace, I will stay as far from the battle as I can, but let me come with you."

Edmund still hesitated, glancing between me and Lucy nervously. Lucy did not offer any opinion whatsoever-she preferred to stay out of as many conflicts as she could.

It was Oreius who finally broke the uncomfortable silence that had settled over us all. His strong hand came to rest on my shoulder as he spoke, "As much as I would prefer for Queen Susan to be transferred to safety, I believe she is in the right in this matter. She is the only one in this present company who has seen the enemy and if she says it would be folly to divide our troops, then it is folly."

My brother stared up at Oreius, searching the centaur's face earnestly. Finally, he gave a sharp nod. "Alright then, let us linger here no longer-we must find Peter before it is too late. Susan, you can ride with Lucy. Scouts in front, followed by the leopards, and then the rest of us-the same formation as before. Let's move out."

The group disbanded immediately and Lucy lead me to her horse, which we both mounted quickly. As she steered the horse over to where Edmund was, she asked, "Do you think Peter's alright?"

"I don't know," I murmured, "He was wounded badly already-I'd hate to think of what they've done to him now."

Lucy squeezed one of my hands that was around her waist. "No matter what happens, nothing is outside of Aslan's control."

"I know." I rested my head against her head. But knowing something and actually taking it to heart are two different things. And as we set out to rescue Peter, I couldn't help but fear that we would get there too late.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

We had been out of the forest for quite some time now, galloping across the plains and marshes that Peter and I had trudged through so wearily. Instead of going through the marsh though, we traveled alongside it, following our scouts-a couple of dogs and a few leopards-who had caught the scent of our enemy.

I clutched onto Lucy for dear life the farther we got from Narnia. I hated to think of Peter being dead when we got there, but it was a scenario that I was forced to consider. After all, he wasn't doing so well when I left him and those creatures weren't exactly known for their kindness.

"Halt!" Edmund suddenly commanded, holding out his arm to signal the rest of the company. We all slowed our horses down to a stop or just stopped running-whichever was the case.

"Why are we doing this?" I whispered to Lucy, who often understood our brother's logic better than I did.

She pointed up ahead. "One of our scouts is returning."

I followed her finger and could just barely make out one of the leopards running straight for us. In next to no time, he was in front of us, sinking into a quick bow before he announced, "Your Majesties, we have found the enemy camp!"

Both Lucy and I looked to Edmund to handle the situation. His face was grim as he spoke, but already I could tell that he was forming a plan of action. "Where are they and how do they look?"

The animal glanced at me as he answered, "Her Majesty was right in guessing it to be a large troop-though not large by army standards, it is a sizable force for our present number. I would estimate close to two hundred strong, your Majesty. And they have entered the forest again, where they are gathered in a clearing of their own making."

Edmund's lips pressed tightly together in displeasure. One of his hands trailed down to his sword and his fingers caressed the hilt of the blade. "And what of King Peter, did you see him?"

The leopard lowered his eyes. "I'm afraid not, your Highness, the crowd was too thick. However, they were all focused on something in their midst-which I assume to be our dear sovereign. I believe he is still alive."

"Let us pray so. Thank you, my good scout." Edmund turned his horse around to face the rest of the company. "It would appear that a stealth attack would be in order here. We'll divide into three companies and surround the camp at a distance, then close in. I shall signal you with one sharp whistle-do not hesitate, but attack immediately upon hearing it. I will lead one group; Oreius, you take command of the next; Cyndir, you take the third. Lucy, Susan, you will go with Oreius's group. Stay as far from the fight as possible, but, if you see an opportunity to rescue Peter-run in, grab him, and try to take him to safety."

Lucy and I nodded. I could feel my sister's body nearly trembling in the beginning of an adrenaline rush. She enjoyed the thrill of battle much more than I did, but even I started to feel a nervous tingle as I thought of rescuing Peter.

In my distraction, I failed to realize that our rescue team was already dividing into three groups. Luckily for me, Lucy was in charge of the horse's reins and she steered us towards the back of Oreius's group.

Although I was somewhat irritated at the fact that I couldn't see what was going on in front of us, I was relieved that we were farther from danger. I had seen enough danger these last few days to last me a lifetime.

Oreius steered us to the east, Cyndir-a tiger- took his group to the west, and Edmund went right up the center with his company. We soon approached the trees that our scouts had indicated. Lucy's horse barely cleared the first few trees before we were forced to stop because the company in front of us stopped. Apparently the evil creatures had not gone too deep in the forest.

"My queen," someone whispered behind me.

Both Lucy and I turned to see a faun near the back of our horse. He was holding a bow and a quiver in his hands.

A dark blush came over my cheeks as I realized that I nearly just rode into battle without any weapons. I reached down and took the weapons, strapping the quiver on my back, and holding the bow loosely in my right hand. "Thank you, my good faun."

"Of course, my lady." He bowed and backed away.

No sooner had he done so then a horrendous scream rent the air.

"ASLAN!"

Lucy and I exchanged worried glances. _Peter!_ The Narnians around us shifted nervously as the echoes of our brother's anguish sounded around us. It didn't seem as though he had much longer to live.

Edmund must have thought so too, for his sharp whistle reached us immediately after the scream had faded.

My stomach clenched in anticipation. I knew that the first lines of our column must be rushing into battle, but we had to wait anxiously back here until they had pushed their way far enough forward.

Lucy grabbed the reins of our horse tightly in her left hand and drew out her dagger with her right. I strung my bow, but refrained from drawing any arrows at the moment.

Up ahead, I could see the rows of Narnians starting to move forward and then, we were moving, heading closer to where Peter was, I hoped, still alive. _Please Peter, stay alive._ _You told me you could stay alive_.

It made me feel better if I mentally reminded him that he had basically promised to stay alive until we came for him. What were they doing to him to make him scream like that? I knew it must be terrible, for my brother had a high tolerance for pain.

"We're getting closer," Lucy whispered breathlessly.

I turned my attention back to the forest where I could see the trees coming to an end and hear the clash of weapons ringing through the forest. The column ahead of us pushed to the edge of the trees and went roaring into the mass of creatures that were already engaged in mortal combat.

Lucy caused the horse to come to a halt at the end of the trees and together we silently surveyed the throng of fighting creatures.

Fear clawed at my heart as I saw the bloody carnage that was already taking place. I gulped. "Do you see Peter?"

"No." Lucy's brow furrowed in consternation. She sheathed her dagger and bent low over the horse, gripping its sides with her knees. "But the leopard thought that he might be in the center of the camp and I have an idea of how to get there."

"You're not thinking of-" I began.

"Hold tight, Susan!" She cried as she snapped the reins hard.

I clung to her waist as the animal jerked forward. Lucy pulled the reins left and right haphazardly as she tried to avoid various clusters of enemies. We jumped over wolves, swerved around a couple of fauns, and nearly collided with a minotaur.

"Duck!" My sister screamed as a harpy came down on us, swiping at us with its deadly claws. I felt the brush of several weapons as we plunged deeper into the clearing. Lucy gasped, "I think I see him! Get your bow ready, Su!"

I snatched an arrow out of my quiver clumsily, clinging to the horse with just my knees.

We broke into a small circle within the clearing that was basically free of enemies. In the center was a tree and tied to the tree was-

"Peter!" Lucy and I cried together.

But he wasn't the only one there. At the sound of our voices, a human that had been crouched beside Peter suddenly leapt to its feet and faced us, eyes blazing. In his hand he held a dagger dripping with blood-my brother's blood.

Lucy let out a furious scream and kicked her horse into action, charging at the person who had dared to harm our sibling. She momentarily forgot that there was another rider though, for when she urged the horse to rear and kick the man, I went tumbling off of the animal.

I landed hard on the ground, snapping the arrow I had just retrieved. Luckily for me, the bow stayed intact. I glanced around frantically for my sister, hoping she wouldn't get herself killed. I spotted her a few yards away, now keeping a wolf at bay....but where had the human gone?

She met my gaze for a brief second, right after she had thrown one of her daggers at the creature. "Were-wolf! Help Peter! I'll be there as soon as possible!"

I gave a nod and hurried over to the tree that Peter was tied to. As I dropped to my knees beside him, my eyes filled with tears at his pitiful state.

He looked dead. His face was dreadfully pale and bruised. Blood was gushing out of wounds everywhere, but most prominently from deep gashes in his shoulder and side.

I started ripping my already ragged hem to bits, frantically pressing the cloth against his wounds. "Good heavens, Peter, what did they _do_ to you?!"

His blue eyes blinked open lethargically at my voice. It took him a moment to focus on me, but when he did, he gave me a tired smile. "Susan....you're....alright?"

"Yes, Peter, I'm fine." My voice trembled as I spoke. The flow of blood was not slowing no matter how hard I pressed. But what concerned me more was that my brother was not reacting to the pressure. "What did they do? Why won't the wounds stop bleeding?"

His head rolled a bit to the side as he murmured, "P-Poison. Were-wolf poison."

I continued to add more cloth to the wads I was already holding against him. "Just hang on, you'll be alright. Just hang on!"

"Susan, look out!" Lucy screamed.

I turned, releasing my grip on Peter just in time to see the werewolf leaping for me. I rolled to the side and he fell in the gap between me and my brother.

Snarling, he turned to me, scratching at the ground. "If I can't kill _him_, I can at least kill _you_."

I started backing away as fast as I could on my hands and knees. But I wasn't fast enough.

He pounced.

I screamed as he landed on top of me. I batted away his sharp teeth with my forearms as he tried to go for my throat. Fur, foul breath, and saliva were all I could see and feel. And then....I felt the warm, sticky sensation of blood spilling over my stomach and the creature collapsed on top of me.

"Susan!" I heard near-identical screams.

The were-wolf's weight was gone the next instant and was replaced by Edmund's and Lucy's worried faces. Edmund helped me sit up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I brushed off their concerns and scrambled back over to Peter. He had lost consciousness by now, but his wounds continued to bleed. "Lucy, do you have your cordial with you?"

"Yes." She appeared beside me, already unscrewing the cap to her cordial. Her hands trembled as she brought the bottle to his lips.

Edmund came up on my other side, his lips pressed together in a thin line. He began to cut away the ropes that bound our brother-a task that I had neglected to take care of before.

We each watched anxiously as a drop of Lucy's precious cordial disappeared into Peter's mouth. The battle continued to rage around us, but none of us noticed. We waited for the elixir to work, waited for Peter to open his eyes and act like he had never been wounded-as Edmund had when he was cured on the fields of Beruna.

To our relief, the wounds slowly stopped bleeding and began to close up, but still-he did not wake.

"Should I give him more?" Lucy asked, fidgeting nervously with her bottle.

Edmund shook his head grimly. "No....I think....I think he's lost too much blood. Your cordial has the power to heal wounds but not to replenish blood."

"What can we do?" I asked as tears stung my eyes. Peter was supposed to be alright now....he was supposed to be awake by now and back to his usual overprotective self.

And yet, here he was. Motionless, deathly pale, and barely breathing.

"Your Majesties." We all jumped at Oreius's sudden intrusion. His concerned gaze swept over each of us and finally landed on Peter. His sadness was almost palpable as he took in our brother's condition. "My advice is to get him back to Cair Paravel. Perhaps the healers there can do something for him. If not, his life is in Aslan's care. Come, the battle is over. I can carry the High King."

The three of us looked around in astonishment and saw that his words were true-the enemy forces had been utterly destroyed. They had stolen something precious from Narnia and now they realized just how dear a price they had to pay for their crime.

Edmund- level-headed as always, even during a crisis- rubbed a fist over his eyes to wipe away any traces of his tears. He wiped his sword on the grass to clean it, sheathed it, and then stood up. "How many wounded and dead have we?"

"Eleven wounded, King Edmund, and six dead. The dead are already being taken care of-several centaurs and horses are in charge of carrying the fallen back to Narnia. And the wounded-"

Lucy was quick to jump in. "Where are they? I can heal them."

Oreius's mouth twitched in a faint smile. "Of course, my lady. They are back that way, over near that cluster of fauns and leopards."

"Thank you." She gave Peter one last sorrowful glance and then darted off to save more lives.

Edmund hesitated, his troubled gaze examining Peter. "I suppose I should see to the organization of the troops." He looked up at Oreius. "Take care of him."

"I will, my liege." Oreius bowed his head as my brother reluctantly walked off to reorganize our party.

And still I remained on the ground, clutching one of Peter's cold, limp hands. I felt utterly useless and guilty. Useless because I couldn't heal like Lucy and couldn't command soldiers like Edmund; guilty because I had inadvertently caused Peter's current condition.

Oreius knelt down beside me awkwardly because of his half-horse body. He gently took my brother's body up in his arms, severing the grip I had on him. Peter's head rolled back and hung over the crook of the centaur's arm.

I could hardly stand to see him so inactive. "It's my fault."

"It is not," the centaur replied firmly. "We have had this conversation already, my Queen. Your siblings need you right now and they need a strong but gentle sister to look up to. Will you give them that or will you wallow in self-pity and needless guilt? Peter sacrificed much for you, that's true. But he did not sacrifice for you to feel guilty. He had faith that Aslan would rescue him and rescue him the blessed Lion did. Now the time has come for _you_ to trust Aslan to heal your brother. Trust in the Great Lion, my gentle Queen, he will not fail you."

Stung by his words, but encouraged at the same time, I nodded. We stood up together and I leaned over to kiss Peter's cheek. "Thank you, brother mine. You did not lose faith and neither shall I."

Oreius smiled down at me and together we walked over to where the other Narnians were gathering to go back home.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Whew! *wipes sweat of her brow* That is officially the longest chapter I've written for this story! I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

*peeks up over the edge of her desk* Hello everyone! I'm not dead! :) I am terribly sorry to have left you in the lurch like that for two weeks, but I had three papers due these past two weeks and all of my writing was poured into them. I apologize for making you all wait. Also, I will not be updating next week either because I am going on a family vacation and I will have no internet access. But thank you for all of your wonderful reviews! :)

Thanks so much, musiclover! It is always nice to hear that a chapter moved someone. :)

And, here we go!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I woke slowly, as if from a drugged sleep. I felt drugged: my eyes were heavy, my head pounded, and I felt incredibly weak-as though I had been fighting a fever for a very long time.

I also felt highly uncomfortable. There were no cushions under me, no support whatsoever-or so it seemed. But then I realized that someone was holding me, indeed, carrying me somewhere. Strong arms were under my neck and knees, holding me bridal style.

I cracked my eyes open to see whose care I was in, but the sunlight dazzled me and I quickly closed them again without being able to satisfy my curiosity.

"King Peter?"

It took me a moment to realize that the voice was addressing me. A shadow fell over my face and I attempted to open my eyes again.

I had more success this time, managing to get them about half-way open. A blurred head with dark hair hovered over me and, after I blinked several times, I could finally make out Oreius's familiar features.

He smiled at me. "It is good to see you awake again, your Majesty."

"O-Oreius? Wha-? Wher-?" Even talking seemed to require a great amount of my energy.

"You're safe, my liege. The were-wolf and his followers are dead, and Queen Lucy has healed your wounds."

It took a minute for me to remember what were-wolf _was_ and why the death of one would be a good thing for me. Then I recalled the yellow-eyed monster who had poisoned me and stabbed me: Leptor. So then, I was safe. I could vaguely remember Susan coming to my aid. Why did I feel so weak then?

As if sensing my thoughts, the centaur's face turned grim. "I'm afraid you've lost quite a bit of blood and we have no way to replenish it. We are on our way back to Narnia to see if the healers can do anything for you."

"Hmm." That explained my lack of ability to even raise my head. "What...wha-," I swallowed, closing my eyes, and tried again, "What if they can't do anything for me?"

"We will have to trust Aslan," Oreius responded with a guarded expression.

I must be pretty bad off then-I felt like it too. But I was no longer in the grasp of my enemies and that was worth something. _Thank you, Aslan_.

"Rest, your Majesty," the centaur gently instructed.

I think I was asleep before he even finished speaking.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

When next I woke, I was lying on something soft and cushiony, but I could still feel a cool breeze on my face. Something crackled nearby and from the faint scent of smoke in the air, I deduced that I must be near a fire.

Soft voices sounded around me-I recognized my siblings voices among them. It was comforting to know that I was in safe hands.

I still felt incredibly weak-weaker than I had felt even when I had come down with the flu back in England one winter. My pulse thrummed in my head, slow and thready. I hated to think of how little was currently circulating through my body, for I must have bled out quite a bit due to the poison that Leptor had given me.

I blinked a couple of times in order to gauge whether or not I would be blinded by the sun as I had been last time. To my relief, it was night out and I could see the stars gleaming above me.

I turned my attention to my surroundings now that I was certain I would not be robbed of my sight. Just as I had thought, there was a fire to the left of me. I was not as close as I had originally guessed, being at least five or six yards from the flames. But I could see why I had been positioned away from the blaze.

My siblings, Oreius, and Cyndir were sitting around the fire, eating their dinner and talking quietly to each other. They probably did not want to disturb me.

But the sight of food made my stomach come alive with a vengeance. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until now. I tried to call out to my family so that they would see that I was awake and would bring me something. But I soon found that my voice was hoarse and no one appeared to notice my vague squeaks.

With a sigh, I realized I would have to get up myself. I slid my hand to either side of me to brace myself and then pushed up.

My arms began to shake violently almost as soon as I tried to use them. Fear spiked within me as I realized I did not even have the strength to sit up. I barely rose an inch off of my pallet before my arms gave out and I collapsed back against my cushions, utterly exhausted.

I lay there panting, sweat rolling down my face. This was ridiculous! Such small efforts should not be causing me so much pain. But then again, if I hadn't managed to sit up, perhaps someone would have noticed me and would bring over some food.

I spared a glance at the group around the fire and was dismayed to find that not one of them had taken note of my predicament.

_Fine family they are_, I thought grumpily and then immediately berated myself. _They just didn't see you, try again_.

Oh but I did not _want_ to try again. The very thought of trying to get my flimsy muscles to work a second time nearly made me want to give up and wait until someone realized I was awake.

Only the smell of food made me change my mind. I was so very hungry and I didn't think I could wait another minute for a bite to eat.

Perhaps if I tried crawling.

I slowly rolled over onto my stomach. At least I could accomplish _that_ even though it made me gasp like I had run a marathon. I raised my head to stare at the fire again. It seemed so very far away. But I was determined.

I stretched my arms out as far as I could in front of me and dug my fingertips into the soil. Then I pushed and wriggled my way forward until my shoulders were parallel to my fingers once more. Then I stretched out again, dragging my body forward inch by painful inch.

I had only gone maybe a foot or so before I had to stop to catch my breath again. My hot cheek pressed against the ground as if to seek strength from the soil the way plants got their nourishment from it.

I lifted my head again and nearly sobbed when I saw how far the fire still was. I already felt as if I had traveled a great distance.

But wait! Cyndir casually glanced over in my direction and my heart began to beat in the hope that he would actually see me. No! He looked away again.

"Stupid tiger," I grumbled under my breath, even though I knew it was irrational for me to place the blame on the animal.

My pulse was throbbing fast now, much too fast for the little amount of effort I had exerted. This loss of blood must be a much bigger problem than I originally thought. Nevertheless, my hunger was stronger than my pain and I began to drag myself along again, scraping up my fingers and tearing my new tunic that someone had put on me earlier.

"Gracious heavens, Peter! What on earth are you doing?!" Susan's alarmed voice was the best thing I had heard all evening.

I stopped crawling and lifted my head again to see that all of the people who had been gathered around the fire were now rushing towards me. I rested my cheek against the ground, comforted that I would now be taken care of.

Edmund was the first to reach me. He turned me onto my back gently and brushed my hair away from my sweaty forehead. His dark eyes glowed with barely-concealed worry. "Great Scot, Peter, what were you _thinking_?!"

"I was hungry," I murmured in my scratchy voice.

Susan let out an incredulous laugh. "Why didn't you just say something? We would have brought you food!"

"I tried." My voice was barely above a whisper at the moment and my strength was leaving me so fast that I didn't even want to try to explain myself.

"Your Majesties all," Oreius stepped in before they could question me again. Aslan bless him! "I believe we should hold off our inquiries at the moment, the King is hungry."

"Of course." Lucy jumped up from where she had been crouched next to Edmund. She walked over to the fire and began ladling some soup out of a pot that I just now realized was over the flames.

Oreius took me up in his arms, causing a wave of dizziness to come over me. I thought I would pass out, but luckily the black lining my vision receded as I was placed near the fire.

Susan bundled up several bedrolls underneath me so that I could have something to brace myself against. As it was, I very much doubted I would have been able to even sit up on my own for any length of time.

Edmund covered me with a couple of blankets, though he did it with less gentleness than Susan would have. It was almost as if he were saying _I may be doing this but I am __not__ mothering you_.

I gave him a brief smile as he put the last blanket on top of me. He merely smirked and went over to the fire to see if Lucy needed any help with the food.

Susan sat down beside me, smoothing out her tunic that she must have acquired sometime between my rescue and now. Oreius walked around the fire until he reached his original spot and then sat down. Cyndir stretched out beside him, his concerned gaze never leaving me. They all waited in semi-awkward silence as Edmund and Lucy finished preparing whatever my dinner was.

Ed came over with a hunk of bread and a waterskin and set them down beside me before sitting near my feet. I wondered at his peculiar action until Lucy brought me a bowl of soup and sat at my free side, smiling gratefully at our brother as she did so.

"Thank you," I murmured as I held the warm bowl in my shaking hands. I gripped the spoon, scooped up a mouthful and, though I did spill some of the food, I managed to get most of it into my mouth. I took another spoonful and another, but by the time I got to my fourth, I couldn't help but glare at my audience. "Would you all please be kind enough to stop watching me eat?"

"Why?" Edmund remarked dryly. "It's the best entertainment I've had all day."

"Edmund!" Lucy exclaimed, but I grinned at him, for his remark had successfully shattered the heavy silence that had settled over us all.

Oreius and Cyndir started talking about something on their side of the fire while Lucy continued to reprimand our brother about his manners. I took another spoonful of soup before noting that Susan was unusually quiet.

I chanced a look at her and her eyes met mine for a brief moment before she glanced away quickly. "Are you alright, Su?"

"I'm fine." But she wouldn't look at me, instead choosing to worry her bottom lip with her teeth.

I just stared at her, knowing she would eventually crack under the pressure.

Just as I suspected, she let out a sigh and turned to look at me. "I'm just worried about you."

I smiled reassuringly. "Don't be. Aslan's brought us this far, I don't think he's going to let me die now."

"Of course not!" Edmund broke in. "Don't worry, Su. Peter'll be back to his normal, overprotective, pigheaded self in no time."

"Ed?" Lucy quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Laughing, we all finished our dinner in relative peace, happy to be reunited once more.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I did not feel well at all. The food that I had eaten earlier churned unpleasantly in my stomach and no matter how hard I tried, I could not fall asleep.

My siblings slept soundly all around me while Oreius, Cyndir, and several other guards took turns keeping watch over us all. And through each shift, I stayed awake, feeling nauseous, lightheaded, and feverish. But I pretended to be asleep so as to not cause anyone concern.

However, I should have known that my ruse would not work with Oreius. Almost as soon as he relieved our previous guard, he called out softly to me, "What troubles you, my lord?"

I sighed and opened my eyes. "Oreius, I-"

But almost as soon as I spoke, bile filled the back of my mouth and I flailed desperately to turn onto my side so I would not choke on it. Strong hands gripped me and helped me to turn where I promptly threw up what felt like all of the contents of my stomach.

The centaur, for it must have been him who was holding me, gently rubbed my back as I continued to choke and heave. Exhaustion crept over me as I coughed one last time, falling limply back into Oreius' grip.

The centaur looked down at me with worried eyes. "Are you alright?"

No, I wasn't alright. I felt so weak and helpless, trembling almost uncontrollably. And, as if that wasn't enough, I could feel tears running down the sides of my cheeks. "I....I can't....I'm...."

"Ssh. It's alright. Calm down." Oreius laid me back on my bed roll and moved to shake Edmund's shoulder. "King Edmund....wake up, sire."

"It's too early," he slurred and rolled over.

I would have laughed if I hadn't found myself suddenly unable to breathe. My breath caught somewhere in my throat and I let out a strange wheezing sound.

The centaur quickly gave up on trying to wake Edmund and was at my side in an instant, smoothing my hair back as he examined me critically. "My lord?.....Peter?.....What's wrong?"

I couldn't answer him if I wanted to because I couldn't get any air. I writhed and gasped but it didn't make any difference. I knew I was panicking, but I couldn't help myself. I needed _air_.

"Peter!"

I knew no more.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Dear me, it looks like he's not out of the woods yet! I'm terribly sorry to leave you all like this, but I am afraid I must. Have a great week everyone! :)


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

Hello everyone! I'm back after a great vacation....and yes, I got some writing done! :)

musiclover-Thanks for the review! It is difficult at times to get the emotions and characteristics right, so I try to put myself in their shoes....which is part of the reason I write in first person. So thanks for the encouragement, I really appreciate it. :)

Thank you for all of the great reviews and here is the next chapter.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

My pleasant dreams were interrupted as I felt someone shaking me and crying frantically for me to wake up. I shut my eyes tighter, hoping whoever it was would eventually get a clue and leave me alone.

But the shaking grew even worse, forcing me to crack open my eyes to see who wanted my attention. Much to my surprise, it was Edmund who was trying to get me up-a person who valued sleep much more than I did. I knew instantly that something must be wrong and I quickly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "What is it? What's the matter?"

Edmund glanced back over his shoulder worriedly, before turning back and responding to me, "Peter's taken a turn for the worst. Oreius is rounding up a small troop of Narnians to accompany us back to Cair Paravel. The rest will come later. Get your stuff together."

I threw off my blankets and grabbed my boots, slipping them on quickly. I looked over to my left where I had last seen Peter and saw that Oreius was bundling him up in blankets, pausing every now and then to massage my brother's throat. I was puzzled at his actions until I heard the wheezing, labored breaths he was taking. His eyes were closed and his face slack-he was unconscious.

"Hang on, Peter," I whispered as I stood up. I didn't really have any belongings with me to speak of, so now I just waited for more directions.

Edmund was loading up his horse and Lucy came trotting in on her horse. She patted the space behind her. "Climb on, Su."

I ran over to the side of the animal, grabbed a hold, and swung myself into the saddle.

Oreius came over beside us, carrying Peter securely in his arms. A few other Narnians joined us, no more than fifteen or so and all of them just as anxious about Peter as we were.

"Are we ready?" Edmund called, gripping his reins tightly as he glanced around at our companions.

They gave a murmur of assent.

He glanced at Lucy and I.

We nodded.

"Then let's ride. Hiyah!" He snapped the reins sharply and his horse took off at a fast gallop. Lucy guided our horse behind his and Oreius fell in behind us, followed by the rest of the Narnians. As we cantered through the plains that surrounded Narnia and away from the dark forest that bordered them, I was grateful that Edmund was leading us. It was still night out and there was hardly any moon shining. If it had just been me out here, I would have had no idea where to have gone. But both Edmund and Peter had a good sense of direction and I knew Ed would not lose his bearings even if it was almost pitch-black out here.

I clutched tightly to Lucy's waist as a cool breeze blew our long hair back. Goosebumps rose on my arms and I huddled closer to my sister for warmth.

Glancing behind me, I could see Oreius keeping a steady pace behind us. But there was no movement whatsoever from Peter. I turned my gaze back to the front, swallowing hard. _Please Aslan, deliver him from this_.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I stifled another yawn as Lucy tried to urge our horse to go faster. The sun had risen a couple of hours ago, but we still were not in view of Cair Paravel. We were decidedly closer, for I could now recognize our surroundings, but I longed to see our castle.

I was sore and tired from bouncing up and down in my saddle all night long, but fear for Peter overcrowded all other thoughts and motivated me to keep going even when I thought I couldn't bear to continue.

Edmund kept his face forward resolutely and steered his horse firmly, letting out the reins every now and then so that the horse could run faster. No one talked and no one dared to ask for a reprieve, knowing that every minute cost Peter precious time.

Inwardly, I began to doubt that any of this would save my brother. He needed a blood transfusion, but Narnia's medicinal capabilities were nowhere near England's and I feared that they would be able to do nothing...especially since Lucy's cordial had proved to be inadequate.

"We're nearly there," Edmund called over his shoulder.

I glanced back at Oreius as I had done frequently throughout the trip. He gave me a small smile, but I could tell he was worried. Peter had not regained consciousness at all during the night and he was still having trouble breathing. I knew the jostling ride certainly couldn't be helping him, but we had no choice.

As I turned back to the front, I was relieved to finally see Cair Paravel's shining towers coming into view. As if sensing that they were close to home, the horses began to run with renewed vigor.

Lucy caused our horse to catch up to Edmund's so we could all arrive together. As we continued on, a leopard came running up on my brother's side.

"With your majesties permission...." he paused to catch his breath so that he could continue, "I would like to run up.....ahead so that I....can alert the healers."

"That would be most appreciated, my good leopard. Please do run ahead," Edmund responded.

The leopard nodded and took off like a streak of lightning towards the castle. I was always stunned by how fast they could move.

Our troop took a bit longer to reach the castle, but soon we too were galloping into the courtyard where several healers were rushing out to meet us.

Oreius nearly ran one over as he hurried to deposit Peter into their care. Several fauns came over to the centaur, carrying a stretcher of some sort. My brother, still bundled up in his many blankets, was gently laid on the stretcher and then rushed out of sight.

I jumped off my horse and reached out to help Lucy dismount. Edmund came up beside us and together we hurried after the entourage of healers, knowing that our horses would be well taken care of by our grooms.

We bustled into the castle, which was already brimming with activity because everyone was concerned about Peter. But they let us pass and we quickly made our way to the healing wing of the castle where, after Edmund had inquired after the location of our sibling, we reached his room.

And it was here that our progress stopped.

An elderly badger halted us at the door to Peter's room, where we could catch a glimpse of the frantic activity going on inside, but saw neither hide nor hair of our sibling underneath all of the hubbub. The badger addressed us in a sympathetic but firm tone, "I'm afraid I cannot allow you to go any further, your majesties. The healers need space to work."

Lucy looked ready to argue and I was all for joining her, but Edmund pulled us away with a barely perceptible shake of his head. As we backed away, he asked, "You will keep us informed of his condition, won't you, good badger?"

She bowed her head. "Of course, your highness."

She turned back to the room and shut the door, leaving us alone in the hallway.

"Why'd you do that, Ed?" Lucy asked with a little frown as she stared at the closed door in consternation.

"It would be of no use to argue with her and even if we were allowed inside, we would only get in the way. It is best to leave them to their jobs so they can work to the best of their abilities to help Peter. Besides," and here he turned to me, brushing a gentle hand over my cheek, "he's not the only one who has had a difficult week. Come on, Su, you look about ready to drop."

I nodded mechanically, feeling as if I were trapped in some sort of daze.

They led me back through the winding halls of Cair Paravel to where our royal bedrooms were located. Though we each had our own bedroom, Lucy and I had taken to sharing a room because we couldn't get used to not sleeping in the same place. Peter and Edmund would occasionally share each other's bedrooms-but not often because Ed complained that Peter kicked too much and Peter griped about Edmund's snoring.

I frowned. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get Peter out of my mind. I could only pray that he would live long enough to complain of Edmund's snoring again.

As I pulled myself out of my grim thoughts, I realized we had come to a stop in front of the room Lucy and I shared. My brother and sister were whispering to each other and if I hadn't been so drained, I would have tried to listen in. As it was, I just stared numbly at our bedroom door.

Lucy placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and gave me a slight push in the direction of our room. "Come on, Su, let's get cleaned up....I feel rotten after sleeping and traveling in the same clothes for two days."

I glanced back at Edmund, who gave me a wry grin. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to bathe too....and I won't forget to scrub behind my ears either."

I shook my head, but I was too tired to come up with a retort. Besides, Lucy had already managed to get me into our room and was now shutting the door.

Edmund gave one last salute and then the door closed.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

A couple of hours later, freshly scrubbed and dressed, I sat at one of the window seats in our room, nervously drumming my fingers against a window pane. Lucy was sitting in an armchair not far from me, attempting to read a book, but her eyes kept darting anxiously to the door, waiting for someone to bring us news of Peter. And Edmund, who had come in a little earlier, was now slouched so far in his chair that his back was touching the cushion and his legs were sprawled out in front of him as he glared into our fireplace. I didn't have the energy to correct his bad posture.

A knock sounded at the door and all of us jumped.....which sent my brother to the floor. He hurriedly stood up and brushed himself off as we turned to the door.

"Come in!" called Lucy.

The elderly badger from before entered our chamber and we unconsciously leaned forward to hear what news she had. I wasn't very good at reading animal faces, but she looked rather grim in my opinion.

"How's Peter?" Edmund spoke, his voice cracking slightly in his anxiety.

The badger shook her head and I felt my heart plummet. _Oh please, dear Aslan, no! Not Peter!_

Lucy let out a wail and Edmund turned a sickly shade of white.

The badger quickly realized her mistake and hurried to explain herself, "He's not dead, your majesties! But he's not any better than he was. I'm afraid we've done all we can."

The relief I had over finding he still drew breath was tainted with the fear that he was still close to death. But if he was to die, I didn't want him to be alone....I took a tiny step forward. "Can....can we see him?"

She smiled tenderly at me. "Of course, your highness, that is why I came here. Perhaps if he knows his family is nearby, his health will improve."

Edmund was already heading towards the door and Lucy and I followed after him, nearly tripping in our haste. It did not take us long to reach the healing wing nor to come to Peter's room. We ran over to his side, startling several healers in the room.

I started to cry as soon as I saw him. He was lying so still, his face was so pale. If not for the gentle rise and fall of his chest, I would have thought that he had already passed on. He still breathed with a slight rasping sound, but it wasn't as strained as it had been.

I felt a small paw grab hold of me and help me sit in a nearby chair, but I hardly noticed. All I could think of was that this was not my brother. He would never suffer himself to lie so still, nor would he allow his family to stare at him while he was sleeping.

Lucy sat down in a chair next to me and Edmund took a chair on the other side of the bed. We were all quiet; we didn't know what to say.

I heard the healers leave the room and close the door behind them, leaving just us siblings alone with each other.

My trembling hand reached out to Peter's white cheek, my fingers softly brushing against it. He didn't stir.

Lucy grabbed hold of his hand, brought it to her lips, and kissed it. Though she was crying, her voice came out strong, "Aslan, our brother's life is in your care. Please, deliver him from this evil, restore him to health."

Edmund bowed his head to hide his tears.

Then Peter began to wheeze.

We all turned to him with hope. Could it be? Was he going to wake up?

But we soon realized that the wheeze was not a sign of his waking up, but one of taking a turn for the worse. His chest began to heave, his face contorting in an effort to breathe. He arched up off the bed, his mouth opening wide as he tried to get air.

Edmund jumped up, sending his chair flying as he rushed to the door to get assistance. Lucy was holding tightly to Peter's hand, calling for him to calm down. And I....I just sat there, helpless to do anything.

The healers rushed into the room, going over to the side that Edmund had vacated and tearing open Peter's tunic to get easier access to his chest. They rubbed salves and pastes onto his chest, but nothing seemed to be working, for he continued to writhe on the bed.

Edmund came up behind me. One of his hands came to rest on my shoulder and the other on Lucy's. We all clung to each other, praying that our brother would not be taken from us.

Peter gave one last convulse and went utterly still.

Everyone else was equally still. None of us wanted to see if he was....if he had....he couldn't be....

One of the healers reached out fearfully and placed two fingers on Peter's neck. We waited, none of us daring to breathe.

Several seconds passed, then more, and our hope began to wane.

The healer lifted sad, shocked eyes to us and slowly shook his head.

"No!" A horrendous scream rent the air and belatedly I realized it was coming from me. I jerked out of Edmund's grasp and put my hands on either side of Peter's face. My tears fell on his closed eyes as I cried, "Aslan, please don't take him away from us! _Please_!"

The room was rapidly losing control as everyone broke down into tears and wails. I saw Edmund clinging to Lucy out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn't tear myself away from Peter.

It had to be a joke or some horrible dream. He would wake up. He _had_ to!

And amidst my grief and anguish, I felt that presence, pure and true. Peace and strength filled the distraught room and I knew of only one who could bring such calm to this grievous situation. Before I heard his voice, before I saw him, I was reassured that all would be well because he was here.

The dearest one to my heart, my Great Lion, my Aslan had come.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

*heaves a huge, content sigh* That chapter was difficult to write. I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading! :)


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

*clears throat and begins to read from The List of Apologies and Excuses that All Writers Use* My most sincere apologies for this being nearly three weeks late. I had many major assignments/tests these past few weeks and the majority of my time and effort went into them. Also, I finished this chapter a while ago....but I _really_ wasn't happy with the results and it took me a while to correct the parts I didn't like. I do hope that you all will be merciful. You may now fire at will. *blindfolds self and waits to be shot*

Seriously though, I am _really_ sorry for this being so late! Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews though, I greatly appreciate it! :)

musiclover-Thank you so much for your sweet review! Don't cry! *gives out tissues* Your words really touched me-it is encouraging to know that I'm not bogging people down with description, but connecting with you all. That's always one of my top goals in writing, so thank you for the encouragement! :)

And here we go.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I woke up to birds singing, but it wasn't the sort of chirping that got on your nerves after a while. It was peaceful...still....almost like a refreshing dream.

It struck me as odd that I should be in a peaceful place, for the last thing I could remember was that I had been in some sort of danger. I couldn't recall exactly what the danger was, nor did I want to.

My eyes fluttered open and the first things I saw were tree-tops waving gently far above me-a sort of redwood or something like it, where the branches grew far away from the ground. It presently occurred to me that I was lying on the ground, but I wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, the grass that I was cushioned with was soft and it didn't tickle me....which rather puzzled me as I could be extremely allergic to grass.

Even though I wanted to continue to lie here, undisturbed, my curiosity got the better of me and I sat up.

As far as my eyes could see, there were trees stretched out on either side of me, sporadic but not cluttered. No roots or bushes surrounded the bases of the trunks, so it was quite easy to see far off into the distance no matter which way I peered.

Several colorful birds darted overhead-some of which almost looked like paintings, too beautiful to be real. The colors were so bright and the feathers had such ornate designs on them that I couldn't take my eyes off of the creatures for several moments.

Once I finally tore my gaze from them, I stood up slowly, quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace of the place. As I turned around to take everything in, I spotted a glistening river winding its way through the trees. It too made very little noise, but if I listened long enough I could hear its faint trickling sound.

I became aware of how incredibly thirsty I was in that instant and I ventured closer to the water to get a drink. As I knelt by the edge of the river, I was taken with how clear and beautiful it was-just like the birds and the trees. I almost didn't want to dip my hands into it for fear that I would ruin it. Almost, but my thirst overwhelmed my concern and I dipped my cupped hands into the cool liquid and drank deeply.

The taste was so crisp and fresh, cleaner than anything I had ever tasted before. This was water in its purest form: delicious, cool, with no visible blemishes.

I had just started to drink my third handful when a deep but strangely soft voice spoke to me, "Peter."

I let the rest of the water fall back into the river as I stood up, looking for the owner of that voice that I knew and loved so well. I was not disappointed either, for as I turned around, there he was, standing in all of his glorious majesty. "Aslan."

It seemed to me that he smiled, his golden eyes warm and inviting.

I ran over to him and buried my face in his mane, taking in that wild, delicious smell that he alone had. A slight rumble shook his chest and I realized he was laughing.

I laughed too, overjoyed at seeing my Great Lion again, relishing in the opportunity I had to be with him alone. Just him and me.

He sat back on his haunches and I reluctantly released my hold on him. As much as I would have loved to merely sit by him and enjoy his presence, I knew he must have something important to tell me.

Aslan sat down all the way now, stretching his great paws in front of him. I took the opportunity to sit down in front of him, folding my legs underneath me. And for a moment, we just stared at each other, his deep golden eyes into my frail blue ones. A glance was all I could stand and I quickly averted my gaze while he continued to look at me in a way that was unreadable to me.

"You did well, son of Adam. You did not rely on your own strength-that is good," his rumbling voice filled my heart with joy.

My brow furrowed at his words though. I was pleased that he was pleased with me, but I wasn't sure what I had done to merit this. In fact, I couldn't remember anything before I woke up. But, not wanting to be rude, I said, "Thank you."

He chuckled. "You do not remember, do you?"

I blushed and looked down at the grass bashfully. I should have known that he would see right through me. "No, Aslan, I can only remember waking up here. I'm not sure what happened before then, or how I got here, or even where _here_ is, and-"

Aslan gave a low purr. I stopped my confused ramblings and waited-knowing he would tell me all that I needed to know.

For a minute, silence reigned between us, but it wasn't awkward. Birds continued to fly overhead and the river continued to wind its way through the forest.

"Would you like to know where you are?" The lion broke the silence.

"Yes please," I murmured, "It's beautiful here."

"You are in my country."

My head jerked up at that. "But...but if I am in _your_ country....then that means...I must have...I..."

Aslan nodded. "You are dead, Peter."

I felt lightheaded at the thought and I raised a trembling hand to my brow. On one hand, I was shocked that I was dead because I had no recollection of any pain or fear-which was what I always thought dying would be like. On the other hand, I was relieved because death was looking pretty good right now-after all, I felt no lingering effects from whatever had killed me and I was with Aslan. One thing puzzled me though. "How....how did I die?"

"What do you remember?" Aslan replied in that enigmatic way of his.

I thought hard for several moments, trying to clear the pleasant haze that had fallen over my memory. It slowly started to come to me in images of Susan's frightened face. We had been running from something...like a flash, I recalled Leptor and his vicious band of creatures, my rescue, being unable to breathe, losing consciousness. "I must have died some time during unconsciousness."

Aslan nodded. "Yes. But we are not here to speak of death, son of Adam. Come, walk with me."

I stood up with him and followed his lead as he walked in between the tall trees. Walking with him was such a joy to me, I never wanted to be parted from him again.

Silence feel between us again-but it only enhanced the peace of this place. As we continued to walk farther into the trees, I could see that in front of us, the trunks were becoming less prominent. A clearing was beginning to appear in front of us.

But as we got closer, I saw that we were not reaching a clearing at all, but were in fact coming to the edge of a cliff. We stopped within a foot of the edge and I gasped at how high we were.

Far, far below me, I could see white specks floating around. At first I thought they were small islands, but then I realized they were _clouds_. I took an unsteady step away from the edge.

"Do not be afraid," Aslan said, "I will not let you fall."

I immediately felt comforted.

"Peter," The sound of my name coming in such a warm tone caused goosebumps to rise on my arms. "You listened to my words. You protected your sister, you did not lose hope. You are a steadfast servant."

My heart swelled with gratitude at his words, especially since I didn't deserve them. I failed so often at times I wondered how he put up with me. And yet, he was calling me a faithful servant. "Thank you."

His great head turned to me, eyes solemn. "The fortitude and trust that you have shown throughout these trials will serve you well in life. Cultivate those characteristics-you will have much occasion to use them."

My high spirits sank at his words. If he was speaking about my future life and I was dead...."Are you...are you sending me back?"

"'I am, my son. There is still much for you to accomplish."

A painful twinge seized my heart. Even though I loved my family dearly, I did not want to go back to my old life-it was full of so much pain, grief, and hardship. And here was such perfect joy and love-fellowship with my Great Lion. I did not want to contradict his will, but I could not help but say, "Must I go, Aslan?"

"You do not go alone, Peter. I am with you always, even until the end of the world."

"I know...I just...I like it here. I like seeing you and talking with you like this."

He smiled at me and I could practically feel his love for me. "There will be a time when this will come again....and it will not be taken from you. You will dwell here in this land and there will be no more sorrow and no more pain. Until then, my son, you must keep up the faith. You are one of my chosen servants and your work in the world is not yet complete. I will bring you home one day, but until that day, you must not neglect the calling that I have placed on your life."

I was saddened and encouraged at the same time by his words. Saddened that this was not the day when I would enter into Aslan's country for the last time, but encouraged that he had a plan for me and that one day he would bring me back here.

"Your return will not be easy, but it is necessary. Are you ready, Peter?" He turned to me expectantly, his penetrating gaze cutting me to the quick.

I glanced around me one last time, taking in the beauty of this place-knowing that one day I would return here again. Then I turned to Aslan and nodded. "I'm ready."

He smiled and became so dazzlingly bright that I was forced to shut my eyes. I felt warm air rush over me, a faint sensation of dizziness, and then I was gasping for air as I struggled to sit up in a bed that I had been placed in.

The world around me was a hazy mass of colors. My ears rang with what sounded like a thousand voices. I was confused. It was hard to breathe and I felt like I had very little energy.

I sank into the pillows behind me and focused on only trying to take in a few good gasps of air. As I started to breathe more normally, I became aware of what was going on around me-particularly of the many hands that were touching me.

My siblings' tear-stained but relieved faces hovered over me and I finally picked up fragments of what they were saying to me.

"Peter!"

"You....alive!...We..."

"...lost you...."

"Aslan..."

Then I was lifted off of my cushions and crushed in a three-way embrace by Edmund, Lucy, and Susan. My trembling arms encircled them as well as I took in their familiar, comforting scent.

And as I gazed between them, I saw Aslan standing in the middle of the room, watching us all with tenderness.

Edmund pulled away from me, staring hard at me as if he feared that I would die again if he took his eyes off of me. After he reassured himself that this was real, that I was really here, he ran to the lion and bowed before him. Kissing one of the great paws as his tears fell upon it, he said, "Thank you, Aslan, I cannot even begin to tell you how grateful I am for the return of our brother."

Susan and Lucy placed me back against my pillows and also knelt before him. "Yes, Aslan, words cannot accurately express the gift that you have given to us in returning our brother to us."

I bowed my head as best as I could manage to convey my own gratitude. Even though I was no longer in Aslan's country, it felt as though a piece of it had come back with me in the form of my family's love.

"Rise, sons of Adam and daughters of Eve," his strong voice cut through the air.

My brother and sisters all stood again and I lifted my head.

Aslan looked deep into each of our faces, scrutinizing us. I felt as if all of my failures were being brought to light, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. But then, he smiled.

And the next moment, I knew that all of the pain, fear, and torment that I and my siblings had gone through this past week was worth it all if only to hear him say the precious words that came out of his mouth.

"Well done, my children."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Sadly, this story is coming to an end. Only one more chapter to go. I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading (and for being so patient!)!


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

*sigh* You would think with it being summer _and_ it being the last chapter of my story, I could at least get it out on time! I am so sorry for the delay....I went out of town, got swamped with work when I got back from out of town, and this summer is turning out to be busier than the school year, which is just twisted and wrong. Oh well!

But, truly, thank you all for all of your support. It has been such a pleasure to write this and your encouragement just touches my heart. As a little present for you all, I drew a picture to go with this last chapter. You can find it at my deviantart website....there's a link in my profile, just click on the picture that says "Peter and Susan." It's nothing special, but I thought you'd like it.

musiclover-Thank you for your review! I love to imagine Aslan's country....and the best thing about it is that no matter what I imagine, it's going to be ten times better! I am glad you enjoyed the chapter....it was difficult for me to write because I wanted to get it just right. Thanks for your support, I hope you like the last chapter! :)

And here we go....

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Several weeks passed since we had been attacked. Peter was gradually regaining his strength but because he lacked the energy to do anything for a long time, many of his responsibilities passed on to the rest of us.

Edmund was a life-saver during this time. Though I could often deal with domestic disputes and other, simpler matters that were brought to our attention, matters of state and international affairs usually fell to our brothers, with Lucy and I occasionally adding our input. And since Peter was out of commission, Edmund took up the role of diplomat, handling every matter with grace and poise. I could already see that he was quickly becoming a wise, just young man. Aslan had given him an appropriate title.

Lucy too was a great servant during this time. My mind and nerves were much too frazzled by my experience to be able to function properly. So she went out to every family of the guards that were killed protecting Peter and I. She brought them food and comforted them with thoughtful words or even just sat there and shared in their tears. Her kindness touched my heart and I was reminded of how compassionate she was.

Today, both Edmund and Lucy were busy with their individual duties: Edmund with delegates from Calorman and Lucy with visiting some of Mr. Tumnus's friends. Peter was resting in his room after his usual morning walk.

I peeked into his room as I passed by and smiled when I saw him sitting on the ledge of his open window. He often did this, which caused our guards much concern. His room was located at least five stories off of the ground and they were afraid that he would fall off the ledge. Of course, Peter just laughed and continued his habit because he found the view of Narnia from his window to be refreshing to his spirits.

I backed away from his room as I got a sudden idea. I had an opportunity to talk with him alone that I hadn't had since our rescue. There was always at least one other person in the room with us, which I didn't mind, but I had wanted to be with him by myself and now I had the chance.

However, I knew there was one thing in particular that I could do for him that he would enjoy. I made my way to the kitchen as fast as I could so that my window of opportunity with Peter would not close before I had a chance to talk with him.

Fethra, a white hare and chief chef, was in the room when I entered. She paused in her work of pounding a lump of dough and bowed her head. "My lady, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing at the moment, Fethra, thank you," I responded as I grabbed a nearby kettle and began to fill it with water. "Do you mind if I heat some water?"

"Of course not, my lady. Would you like me to fix you some tea?" She watched me cautiously, as if she was afraid that I was going to set her kitchen on fire.

"No," I replied. "Do we have any more of that sucera from Tashbaan?"

Her face softened with understanding. "Ah....you are making some of that _hot chocolate_ for King Peter, my lady?"

"Yes." I beamed.

She jumped off of her stool and walked over to a cabinet that was close to the door that I had come through. She opened the cabinet and disappeared inside for a moment while I waited patiently for her. She returned momentarily, holding an elaborately carved box that we had received as a gift from Tashbaan.

"Thank you," I said as I took the box from her and opened it. Inside were dark purple balls of sucera-a kind of luxury item that tasted almost like chocolate. It was a bit bitter, but with a bit of sugar, it made an excellent substitute for hot chocolate. It was one of Peter's favorite drinks and now was just the sort of occasion that called for it.

The water soon boiled and, after I had poured it into two cups, I dropped a ball of sucera into each one and stirred until it dissolved. The sugar was added next and, saying goodbye to Fethra, I picked up both cups and walked slowly back to Peter's room.

Much to my relief, he was still where I left him and no one else as of yet had come into the room. I tiptoed in, set the cups down on a nearby table, and then quietly closed the door behind me.

The soft _click_ that the door made when it shut attracted my brother's attention. He craned his neck to see who had entered and smiled at me. "Susan. Come to sabotage me, have you?"

"Yes, I figured the only way to talk to you alone was to sneak up on you. So far, it's working fairly well." I walked over to the table, picked up the cups, and brought them over to him. "I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," he replied as he took one of the cups. A wide grin split his face when he saw what was inside. "Hot chocolate! You're a brick, Su!"*

I chuckled as I climbed onto the windowsill beside him and dangled my legs out the window. "Well, it's more of hot sucera, but it'll have to do."

He took a sip and closed his eyes, savoring the flavor. "This is good. I don't know how you do it, but only you seem to make it with just the right amount of sugar. Ed and Lucy make it much too sweet and I don't even want to _try_ to make it."

I laughed. "Who knows, Peter? Maybe you'll have a magic touch when making it."

He wrinkled his nose and said, quite frankly, "I rather doubt it. I have the uncanny ability of ruining even a pot of boiling water. I'm afraid that making hot chocolate is quite beyond my skills."

I smiled as I recalled the incident he was referring to. Lucy had a nightmare one night and as the kitchen staff had already gone to bed and we didn't wish to wake them, I had sent Peter down to the kitchen to boil some water for tea. He had grabbed the first pot that he had come to, which was made of thick iron and was rather deep, and had filled it all the way to the top. While waiting for it to boil, he fell asleep and I, being curious as to what was taking him so long, came down to find that all the water had been transformed into vapor and the flames were now diligently working on making the pot hot. It was since decreed by Fethra that Peter was not allowed to be in her kitchen unsupervised.

He glanced over at me and his complexion darkened in embarrassment as he guessed at my thoughts. "At least I had a reasonable excuse for falling asleep, it was late!"

I chuckled. "I know, Peter, I know. Perhaps if you tried making something else, Fethra wouldn't be so suspicious of you."

He winced. "I swear that rabbit glares at me if I breathe too hard on her food. But no matter, I'm sure you didn't come here to discuss my lack of skills in the kitchen. What can I do for you?" And here, he turned his full attention to me, ready and willing to listen to absolutely anything I had to say.

I was immediately undone, for once again he displayed his unselfish devotion to his family, always putting our needs before his own. I didn't understand how he did it, but I was so incredibly grateful and touched by his care that tears sprung up in my eyes and I had to look away from him to regain my composure.

He set down his hot chocolate on the space beside him and gently placed his hand on my shoulder. "Susan? Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," I blubbered, "I just don't know how you do it."

He looked puzzled. "Do what?"

"Live like this every day. You are so self-less and kind. You are always desiring to help other people....you almost got yourself killed this past week for my sake and I just don't understand why you would do that for me. I am so selfish and rude at times and yet-"

He cut me off abruptly, pulling me into a warm embrace as he said sternly, "Susan, stop that. You are not a terrible person and neither am I as much of a saint as you make me out to be. We are both human; we each have our shortcomings. You want to know why I was willing to die for you?"

I nodded, trying to stop the tears that were suddenly pouring from my eyes.

He pulled back and looked right into my eyes. "I was ready to die for you because you, Lucy, and Edmund are the most precious things on earth to me, second only to Aslan. I couldn't bear the thought of losing any of you.

"You all are a constant reminder to me of how I should act: Lucy is so brave and her faith is so strong, she challenges me to love Aslan more; Edmund is wise and patient, he constantly reminds me to check my own temper and impulsiveness; and you, Susan, you sacrifice so much of your time and energy making sure that each of us is well-taken care of and you are a daily example to me of what selfless love looks like. I am amazed at how each of you can still love me when I fail so often. You all are worth more to me than my own life.

"But even that was not enough to sustain me. I was so frightened, I could scarcely think. But then Aslan came to my mind. And after all that he has done for me, how could I not endure? If he allowed me to be imprisoned and tortured, though I may not know his reasons, I knew he did it for my good and he would give me the strength and courage to persevere. And even if I died, I would be with him and one day we would be reunited as a family in a place where there would be no more pain or tears. _That's_ why I could die for you, not because of anything inherent in me, but because of the courage and love that my family and Aslan instill in me."

"Oh Peter!" I grabbed him again and held him close, touched by his words.

We sat there for a long while, just holding each other and thanking Aslan for putting us in the same family. Though we had suffered terribly this week, we could now see that we had come out the stronger. Aslan had proven himself faithful once more and our family had grown closer through those trials. As long as we relied on Aslan, we had nothing else to fear, for he would be here even if everything else faded away.

_"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,_

_for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. _

_And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect_

_and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1: 2-4)_

_____________________________________________________________________________________

*This is a compliment....I'm not sure how it works out to be a compliment, but it is. C.S. Lewis uses it in his Chronicles several times. :)

Goodbye my dear readers! Thank you for reading and God bless!


End file.
